Too small for his boots
by Phoenix on cloud nine
Summary: A sequel to 'Howard's little man'. Bollo didn't read the small print so something 'small' happens to Vince.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! Bet you weren't expecting a sequel were ya? And so soon as well! It's like a woman getting a divorce then getting married a week later! I'm really happy I had a sudden flash of inspiration, but if any of you think I shouldn't really bother with a sequel, by all means tell me so I can get rid of it lol :P Also, thank Buttons Magoo fot the title! It was originally 'Howard's little man 2' lol,(Titles aren't my strong point) then she sent me this one, which I then forgot and wrote the wrong one in lol Hopefully, I've got it right THIS time. Third time's the charm ;) Oh and in this chapter, Bollo has a pager. Why? I don't know. Does it matter? Lets pretend he's a doctor...  
Disclaimer: Not mine, the only thing I own is the english coursework I should be doing at the moment ;)**

"Erm, Howard?" Naboo cautiously edged into the room, speaking quietly, as Vince was asleep on the sofa, completely wiped out from the Satsuma fight they had just had. Howard looked up at Naboo, stuck from moving anywhere, as Vince's head was on his lap.

"Yeah?" Naboo looked edgy, and he moved his feet against the carpet slowly, looking like a child who had just been caught doing something bad.

"Remember how Vince ate that jelly, then we got him back to normal, using the potion that saps his memory?"

"Yes" Howard spoke slowly, not liking Naboo's tone, or the way this conversation was going.

"Well it turns out that SOMEONE," He looked over at Bollo, who was doing his best to seem inconspicuous behind Naboo, "Forgot to read the small print". Howard gulped. This didn't sound good.

"Well? What was in the small print?"

"Well it turns out that if someone drinks that potion, then doesn't immediately drink lucozade after, the potion kind of… turns in on itself…"

"You honestly don't mean that Vince is gonna think he's three again?" Howard was horrified. His relationship with Vince had gotten better, and he'd managed to put all memory of a cute little boy out of his head.

Naboo shuffled on the floor again.

"Erm, not quite like that, it, er..." Naboo was saved by Bollo's pager going off. Bollo looked down at it and groaned.

"Important Shaman meeting, Naboo must be there, says to bring portable hookah". Howard kicked Naboo in the leg as he tried to hurry off,

"What'll happen then? Is it something dangerous? I can't believe you're abandoning Vince just so you and your mates can crack open yet one more crate of drugs!" Howard was hissing this out of the corner of his mouth, as Vince still lay asleep on his lap, and Howard saw his eyebrows furrow a couple of times, and didn't want to wake him up fully.

At first it looked like Naboo was ignoring him, but just as he was about to go down the stairs, his head popped up at the railings, and hissed, apologetically,

"It's not going to do what it did last time, it's kinda going to do the opposite". Howard's eyes widened as he looked down at Vince, still sleeping, blissfully unaware of what might be happening to him.

"Naboo, I... what?" Naboo looked slightly impatient as he whispered,

"He's going to keep his mind, it's just his... body that'll change"

"WHAT!!" Vince shot up from sleep as Howard cried out in shock.

"Wuz goin' on?" Howard looked down at him and back at Naboo. The shaman had a pleading expression on his face, and he mouthed,

_I'll find a cure when we get back_

With that he was gone.

Howard looked back at Vince, his mouth hanging open, as Vince looked worriedly up at him.

"What's wrong with you?" Howard could only shake his head and plonked himself down onto the sofa, Vince budging up to make room. He felt a prod in his side and found Vince pushing his toe into the older man's ribcage.

"Are you ok?"

"Erm, Vince, how do you..feel?" Vince looked at him questioningly for a second and then said,

"M'abit tired"

"You don't feel... smaller? Erm, or like you might be about to shrink?"

Vince started laughing at Howard, and shook his head,

"Did you have a couple of beers after I fell asleep?". Howard just shook his head, and was about to call Naboo, but was stopped when Vince put a hand on his arm.

"Howard, what's that?" Howard turned to find Vince pointing at a letter, that must have been magically sent there, lying on the table.

Vince went over to open it, intrigued, but Howard said, with a great deal of force,

"Vince, you said you were tired, go to bed"

"What?! You can't just tell me to go to bed! I'm not three!" Howard laughed bitterly at that statement, but settled his gaze back on Vince who was looking indignant, hopping from one foot to the other.

"Vince I'm not going to argue! Just go to bed!" Vince was actually quite frightened by the loud dismissal, glowered at the older man, but obediently walked off, in the direction of the bedroom. Howard let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding in and turned his attentions to the letter in his hand. He could instantly tell it had Naboo's writing on it, so he tore it open,

_Howard,  
I managed to tell the shaman council what happened, and made them promise to help us or I wouldn't give them the drugs. Anywho, Vince should change in about an hour, and Kirk said that he once did this to someone to curse them, saying that he was really dissapointed that they could still talk and control all bodily functions _(Howard closed his eyes and made a quick silent thank-you) _so it'll just be a case of finding him stuff to wear really. You'll need to tell him what happened last time, and how this happened. Blame Bollo. The other shamen are getting quite impatient, so I'll have to finish, but I swear we're cutting the shaman outing short, and everyone's chipping in to help Vince. Call me if it's an emergency, otherwise, don't bother. Vince knows my number.  
N._

Howard let out a breath again, thankful that Vince would still be himself, but shorter. He didn't know how he would have coped if he had to be changing nappies or something. He cast a glance down the corridor. Should he tell Vince now or wait until he changed? Now. Said the little sensible voice in Howard's head, he'll only panic if he wakes up with the body of a three year old. Howard braced himself and walked towards their bedroom.

**Again, if you don't think a sequel was really neccessary, just say. Plus, I don't know anything about babies, so I don't know whether or not they still need nappies at three. Just take it that Howard knows even less. (If you haven't got a clue of what I'm talking about, look at the last, last paragraph, to where Howard thought he wouldn't have been able to cope if Vince _had _lost control of his functions) :P Sorry that the chapter's so short, but I wanted to know what people thought before writing too much ;) Please review, it may be your review that makes this story evolve. Lol, please?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! Thanks for all the reviews, I'm glad you all think it's a good idea. You're all so cool ;)  
Disclaimer: I don't own The Boosh or anything else I may have mentioned in the story, but then proceeded to forget :P**

Howard took a deep breath and readied himself for a tirade that would doubtless happen, as he opened the door cautiously and peered around it. It was like deja vu. Vince was sat, curled up on Howard's bed, but he wasn't crying, and was focusing hard on a magazine, as if he was trying to completely ignore the older man.

"Vince," Howard began, noting the icy look that Vince gave him, peering over his magazine, "Vince, I really need to tell you something". Vince rolled his eyes, but looked up at Howard from his magazine.

"You remember when I told you that we got really drunk, a couple of weeks ago? And that was why you couldn't remember anything that had happened for a couple of days?". Vince nodded, now looking like he was trying to hide the fact that he was interested.

"I...lied". Vince casually lifted an eyebrow, and decided to ask,

"Why? And so?" Howard almost openely shuddered at how cold Vince's voice was, how he wasn't masking the disdain.

"Because, it would have embarrasing for you, if you remembered" Vince now stopped trying to ignore Howard, and gave him his full attention.

"What do you mean?" He sounded rather frightened. Howard went and sat down next to him, remebembering something that Naboo told him,

"What I want you to bare in mind, Vince, is that it was all entirely Bollo's fault". He quickly told Vince what had happened those few days, missing out several things (Such as him calling Howard 'Daddy') and sat there as he watched Vince's face. He looked shocked, and a blush rose faintly on his cheeks. Trying to sound cool, he just stuck his head back in the magazine and said,

"Fine. Why did you tell me now? If it was so embarrasing, why did you tell me at all?" He heard Howard sigh and looked up again.

"Because, and remember, this is all entirely Bollo's fault.." He told him what Naboo had said, and this time he got a slightly more... anticipated answer.

"What?! Because Bollo ballsed somat up, I have to live as a three year old??" Howard winced at how hurt Vince sounded.

"I don't think it'll be for very long," Howard soothed, "And if it makes you feel any better, you'll still be you, you'll still be able to talk and y'know, have full control of your...bodily functions...". Vince looked up at him, aghast.

"If it makes me feel any better?! And how do you know it won't be for very long? What if Bollo does something wrong this time? And I have plans!". Howard rolled his eyes. Trust Vince to turn something like this into an excuse to shove the fact that he had friends in Howard's face. Vince looked to be on the verge of a serious meltdown, and Howard nearly cowered as he could almost see sparks flying from his friend's eyes.

"Right. I'm gonna call him. Right now". Vince leant over and snatched his mobile from up off the little bedside table. After a flurry of fingers over the keypad, Vince was in full anger mode, throwing insults left right and centre, until Naboo finally picked up the phone.

_"Yeah?"_

"Naboo you absolute jerk-off!! What the hell am I supposed to do? What are you doing?!" Howard could picture Naboo cowering away from the phone.

_"Listen Vince, it's not my fault, and for your information, I'm trying to find a potion to help you". _Vince raked his hands through his hair desperately.

"What do you mean, 'trying' to find one?! Am I gonna have to spend the rest of my life as a three year old?!"

_"Look Vince, just stop panicking, by the way, are you actually, y'know, changed yet?"_

"No!! Not yet! By the way, you sounded interested Naboo, maybe you did this on purpose, like an experiment?!"

_"Vince, just calm down, look pass me over to Howard for a minute". _Vince pulled a face, but passed his phone over to Howard, and started anxiously chewing his hangnail.

"What Naboo? This had better be quick, because I think we have like, five minutes, before he actually does change" Howard heard an indignant yelp from his side, but ignored Vince and concentrated on the shaman's voice.

_"It's gonna be quick. Do you have anything he can wear?"_

"Are you crazy? When was the last time you saw a three year old in the flat?"

_"Fair point, but you'll have to get him something, and quickly. Go into town and leave him at the flat"_

"Leave him here?! Naboo he's..." Howard was about to say that he just couldn't leave a three year old alone, so he hastily changed the sentence, "...he's, erm, not going to let me choose his clothes!". He heard a sigh on the other end, but he knew Naboo would accept this. It was _Vince _after all.

_"Ok, but you might want to bring him in a buggy or something, you might attract just a bit of attention if you walk down the high street with a naked three year old..."_

"You do realise we don't have a buggy?"

_"There's one in the attic somewhere. Look Howard, I'm gonna have to go, Saboo's threatening to take us all to the Crunch, so I need to get them all back on track. Bye"_

With that emotionless voice he hung up. Howard looked over helplessly at Vince, who was glowering at him. The older man sighed and pushed his hands through his hair.

"Well now what?" Howard looked up when he heard Vince say that. The voice was almost pitiful, and sounded extremely scared.

"Don't worry little man, the only thing we really need to worry about is clothes". Vince sneered at that, and looked to be on the verge of making a remark about Howard's dress sense, but he stopped and cutched at his friend's hand.

"I think it's happening Howard, my head just started pounding. Oh god, I feel sick" He whimpered that last bit, but Howard nodded at him, and never let go of Vince's hand.

"It's ok Vince, you'll be fine". Vince looked up at Howard, his blue eyes shining, but Howard noticed that Vince was craning his neck to look at him. The weird thing was, the change wasn't really noticeable, unless you were looking especially hard for a sign. Then, if you looked away and then looked back again, you could tell that Vince was definately smaller than he had been before. He started rubbing his friend's hand, now seeing that that was smaller than it had been.

Vince felt like he was about to black out, and for a moment or two it felt like he had. He shook himself, and suddenly felt better. The headache was gone and he no longer felt like he would be sick any minute. He looked up at his (Much taller) friend groggily. Howard tried to smile, but thought it would probably look like a grimace.

"You ok?" Vince nodded and asked dazily,

"D'you think its finished?" Howard nodded, and Vince finally let go of his hand, jumped off the bed, and looked himself up and down in the full length mirror on his wardrobe. His eyes widened with shock as he saw a tiny child in front of him. Howard too, was surprised. He knew three year olds were obviously small, but he didn't know Vince had been _that _small. And he was skinny. _I don't care what he says, I'm going to feed him up _Howard thought.

He had to admit though, Vince was an extremely cute toddler. His blue eyes looked like they had stayed the same size, so they looked huge. His black hair had turned into a mousey brown colour, and hung down around his face, giving him and adorable choir boy/puppy look. Then he looked down, and almost burst out laughing. The boy was absolutely _swamped_. The jeans he had been wearing had fallen down as soon as he had stood up, but the top he had been wearing (Which was a bright blue skinny top) now hung down around his knees.

The boy glanced up at Howard, a look in his eyes that wasn't too clear. It was like a cross between about to cry and a sort of 'I dare you to laugh at me' look. Howard smiled at him, about to pick him up, then realising that this wouldn't be appropriate at all, so he just said,

"Naboo said that we could go into town and get you some clothes" Vince's eyes widened,

"I can't go out like this! How am I supposed to walk? I'm not going out in just a t-shirt!"

"Well... Naboo said that we could use a buggy that's up in the attic..." He almost laughed at Vince's face

"You are not pushing me around strapped in a buggy!"

"Well, I could just go on my own"

"Are you crazy!? I don't trust you buying me clothes!". Howard rolled his eyes, and said in patient tone,

"Vince, it's not like you're going to be wearing them for ever, so it won't matter..." Vince interrupted him,

"It's the principle that counts!" Howard gave him a look and he sighed, "Fine, I'll come, but I don't see what difference me walking or being in a _buggy_ will make"

"Well, it's about minus 10 out there, so we can put blankets and stuff on you, then people won't see you're wearing just a top". Vince sighed, but he knew who had won the argument, so he tried to compromise,

"Ok, but I'm choosing the clothes. And shops". Howard held up his hands.

"Don't worry about that little man, I wouldn't have a clue what to get". Vince gave him a shadow of a smile, but cast a doubtful glance down at his body.

"Was I really this small when I was three?"

"How would I know that?" Howard cried exasperated, "Fine, you do... whatever, I'll get the buggy and everything".

He turned to go, but was stopped by a shrill scream, that sounded like a baby having it's toe cut off. Whirling around, he saw Vince looking at the mirror and clutching his hair.

"How the hell am I gonna straighten this?!"

**Lol, I know it's extremely vain to laugh at your own work, but I did at the end sentence. Tbh, I don't know why, cause looking back it's not that funny :s  
****Ah well. And I think you still fit 3 year olds in buggies, but if not, bear in mind he is a very small three year old. And sorry if I didn't spend a huge amount of time on the actual transformation, but I hadn't got a clue of what to write. Reviews are very much appreciated **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there ;) Reviews are welcomed with open arms, and I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but I love them all, and everyone who reviews get a big hug off 3 year old Vince :P  
Disclaimer: I own a huge, gaping, cavernous nothing ;) Neither do I own Kwikfit! If I did, I'd have loads of people dressing up as that tyre man!**

Coughing, Howard pulled the buggy out of the attic, enduring copious amounts of dust and spiders falling on top of him. He couldn't help wondering how his relationship with Vince would be affected after this. He was sure that they might be closer after this, but resolved not to let his parental side get too involved. He climbed down the ladder that was a huge eyesore in the middle of the flat, and dropped the buggy on the floor, carelessly.

He examined it, and found it to be quite a modern, expensive looking one that appeared to work fine. If just a little dusty. He shook his head, wondering if Naboo would _ever _clean out that attic fully. He left it for a moment and went to find the throws that went on the end of their beds (Well, Howard's- Vince's usually ended up on the floor, as he was a restless sleeper). Knowing which one Vince would prefer, Howard instinctivly went for the brightly coloured throw that Vince had stitched stars into, but then pulled back. He wanted (And was not at all sure why) to keep a low profile, and so opted for the beige coloured one that went with his duvet.

It was only when he was cleaning out the buggy, that Howard noticed there was a severe lack of toddler in the flat. He had never known Vince to be quiet for this long before, even when he was asleep he'd mumble away to himself.

"Vince? Hey Vince? You still in the bedroom?" Howard cocked his head, as if believing that would make him hear better, and did actually hear mutterings coming from the bedroom. Hearing little yelps now and again, he decided it was best to intervene whatever his friend was doing. He forced himself to walk slowly, not giving into the temptation of running in case something was wrong, he finally arrived at their door and knocked, feeling rather shy as he did.

"Hey little man, you ok?" All he heard was muttered curses, and every so often a thump, so he threw caution to the winds and opened the door. He almost laughed at the sight that met his eyes. Seeing a three year old with a pair of straighteners both amused him and scared him.

"Vince, what are you doing?" _Now there's a stupid question if I ever heard one _Howard thought to himself. The boy looked up at Howard with frustration in his eyes. He had a few burns on his fingers and hands, and his hair looked to be in a worse state than it was before he started.

"It's these hands Howard! I just can use them properly!". He glowered down at them so much it was almost comical, as if he was cautioning a badly behaved puppy.

"You probably just have to get used to them a bit Vince," Howard said, patiently, "You're just not used to them being so small".

"No seriously Howard, I mean, it is weird that they're so small, but I honestly can't do much with them! Look".

He hopped off the small stool he was sat on, still wearing that blue top that came down to his knees, and toddled over to his bedside table, where he kept all his scrap paper and felt tips. He motioned to Howard to come over, and put several peices of paper on the table. Howard, intrigued, came over to watch as Vince tried to do something, _anything_- write, draw. And he couldn't. It did look like a three year old had written it. Howard could barely make out a scribble that Vince stabbed at with his finger as he said,

"That was _supposed _to be my name. I can see how I want it in my head, but I just can't do it". He sounded extremely frustrated, so Howard just patted him on the back and said,

"Well I don't suppose it matters Vince, you don't need to write anything do you?". Vince sighed and threw the pen down on the paper.

"Well what am I supposed to do if I get bored?" Howard raised an eyebrow.

"What, you write novels when you get bored?"

"_No. _I draw when I get bored. What do I do now?". Howard shrugged and tried to put on a sympathetic face.

"Finger painting?" For this he got a glare and a smack on the thigh (They were standing up at this point, and this was the highest Vince could reach).

"Come on little man, that buggy is almost ready". Vince sighed, but nodded, and followed his friend out of the door.

--

Vince looked up at Howard quizzically as they came upon the buggy in the living room.

"Why is there cardboard over it?"

"Oh haha. This is the throw that goes over my bed". Vince gave him a horrified look,

"I can't be seen with that over me!"

"Really? Would you rather people saw you walking down the high street in nothing but a t-shirt?" Howard then shook his head to stop the bickering, and thought back to the matter in hand. He made a quick checklist in his head as Vince circled the buggy, as if trying to memorize how it looked exactly.

_Ok, tops, trousers, shoes, a coat maybe...erm, underwear? Something to amuse him, since he can't draw? _Howard then remembered that today would usually be the day they (Well, he) went food shopping. He had a quick check in the fridge and various cupboards. _Right, we need food. _He looked back to see Vince stood there, waiting, looking absolutely tiny, and quite cute as he quickly lost interest in the silence and started gazing around the room, looking at the frost outside. _Right._

"Vince, it looks really cold outside, have you got a hat or scarf or anything?" Vince nodded and went to get them from the small cupboard on the landing. Howard in turn got a practical coat on, along with gloves, a scarf and a hat. Vince came trailing back with the pink hat that he took to the tundra, a deep blue scarf, and some black gloves that would probably fit Howard. The older man sighed, but didn't say anything, as Vince tried to keep the hat from falling all the way down his face.

"Right, I think it would be better if you got in this thing in the shop, I don't fancy carrying you in that down the stairs". Vince nodded and went to flollow Howard downstairs, but tripped over the scarf ends that were dangling all the way to the floor. Seeing something very similar to that happening on the stairs, Howard left the buggy in the shop, came back up and, shooting a little look of sorry at his friend, picked him up.

Vince was surprised, but didn't say anything, and allowed Howard to carry him down the stairs and sit him (And Vince noticed he sat him, not dumped him) in the buggy. He stayed quiet as Howard moved the throw around him, making it look like a blanket that you see on quite a few buggies in winter, and also making it look like Vince was wearing trousers and shoes under there. Finally plonking the hat back on him (It had fallen off half-way down the stairs), Howard smiled at his friend and asked,

"You ok? Comfortable enough?" He got a nod, and asked "Warm enough?" Another nod. Sighing slightly, Howard manouvered the buggy around the shop counter, and out into the street, stopping next to the green van that was parked outside, that Vince had painted purple skulls on. Opening the back doors, he somehow managed to hoist the buggy into the back, and turned it to face him as he spoke to his friend.

"It would just be stupid to sit you in the front, then go through that whole process of putting the throw back around you again," He explained, apologetically. Vince sat in a stony silence, which caused Howard to roll his eyes and ask, "What's wrong? You were fine a couple of minutes ago!". Vince fidgeted a little, and didn't look Howard in the eye as he said,

"Well, it's just, y'know, aren't you embarrassed? Y'know, having to push your friend around in a buggy?" Howard smiled slightly, and Vince realised it was ok.

"Look Vince, I was a tiny bit embarrassed when you were acting like three year old, but I'm surprisingly ok now. Plus, it's not actually your fault this time is it?" Howard said, again laying all the blame on Bollo. Vince smiled up at him, the first smile Howard had gotten since Vince had changed, so he said,

"Right, you ready to go?" Vince nodded again, but Howard realised this wasn't like the other nods where he didn't want to talk. This was simply a nod that said he would have talked, but nodding would do just as well.

Howard moved the buggy a bit more, so that it was facing the front, and boxed it in with various things they had lying around, so that it wouldn't move anywhere. Howard knew this wasn't exactly the safest way of transporting a toddler somewhere, but he didn't have a car seat anywhere did he? _Add that to the list _He thought to himself. _Naboo had better give me compensation for all of this_, he thought angrily. Giving Vince one more reassuring smile, he closed the doors of the van and hastened to the drivers seat, as the inside of the van had really warm heaters (Naboo had gotten them off a shaman mate who worked at Kwikfit, who he used to deal to, so they owed him) and the cold was starting to get to him.

Closing the doors and instantly turning on the heaters, he had a quick glance back at Vince, who appeared to hummimg under his breath and smiled. He was coping well for someone who had just changed from the body of a 25 year old to the body of a 3 year old. Howard started the van and carefully set off, driving much more carefully than he would usually.

--

After about ten minutes they stopped at some red lights, giving Howard a chance to turn once again at Vince. He saw that his friend was a very odd shade of green. Panicking, Howard said,

"Vince? Are you ok?" Vince shook his head, and became slightly greener, so Howard tried to pull over, but the lights were still on red. _Hurry up damn you! _He thought, as if that alone would spur them on. After what seemed like forever, they became green, just as Howard heard the sounds of a toddler being _very _sick in the back of the van.

--

After finally finding a parking space, Howard hurridly went round the side of the van, and opened it to see Vince looking slightly better, but still a bit pale.

"Are you ok little man? Do you still feel sick?" Vince shook his head, and Howard was relieved at that, and the fact that it wasn't as bad as it sounded. There was just a bit on the throw that would easily wash out, and what was on Vince looked no more than baby sick. Howard had luckily brought some tissues and hand wipes with him, so it didn't take long before Vince was sick-free, and smelt quite nice as well, as the hand wipes were scented. After a few moments of scrubbing, the throw seemed ok, but Howard turned it over, so no-one would be able to see the stain. Now he turned his attentions back to Vince.

"Why didn't you tell me you felt sick?" Vince noticed that his voice wasn't angry, so he gained some courage before answering,

"I didn't really wanna worry you, 'cause you might have thought I was ill"

"Well, if you're sick, I'd think you were ill anyway little man"

"I'm not though! I just get a little bit travel sick sometimes". Howard raised an eyebrow, he hadn't known that.

"Since when? You're fine when we drive somewhere normally"

"I'm fine if I can see where we're goin', but this isn't high enough to see over the top of the chair!" Howard sighed,

"Don't worry, I'm getting a car seat in town, so you _will_ be able to see where we're going, when we get back" Vince smiled slightly, so Howard grinned back at him, lifted the buggy down, and, locking the van, started off towards the shops.

**I don't know what Vince's real age is, so I just 25. No arguments M'kay? Lol, Please review! And sorry if the sick scene made anyone feel sick, and weird as that sounds, I know people who would feel sick reading it :P Woop! Mighty Boosk of Boosh out today!! Can't wait to get it!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Again, thanking you for all the glorious reviews, I really hope this doesn't make me sound needy ;)  
I was looking online and through catalogues for ages to find some cute clothes for toddlers. The cutest I know Vince wouldn't pick himself, so I'm going to let Howard pick him some :p Oh and btw, I know Topshop don't have toddler clothes and New Look probably don't have baby shoes, but it's just poetic license, so just roll with it ;)  
Disclaimer: Don't own anything Boosh related or shop related.  
Plus, any views that are steretoypical or whatever aren't my own!! Don't attack me for any of them!**

"You alright little man?" Howard asked, for what seemed like the hundredth time since leaving the car. They weren't far from the crowds, and Howard was worried that they might be shoved quite a bit, and Vince was still looking a bit peaky from the car ride, so he didn't want anymore projectile vomiting while they were in town.

"Howard, I'm fine, stop fussing". A woman window shopping paused in her wanderings and turned around. Vince shut up and tried to be as toddler like as possible (Although he hadn't been near any toddlers since he _was_ a toddler). The woman smiled at Howard, who attemped a smile back, looking distinctly nervous as she came across and said,

"Hi! I'm Ellie! I know I seem really rude, nosy and forward, but is this cute little guy here yours?" She saw Howard's eyes widen slightly (What she didn't know is that they were widening at the fact that someone just called Vince a 'cute little guy'. He always got 'sexy' or 'ugly woman') and waved her arms a bit, a slight embarrased expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't really be so nosy, it's just I heard him say 'Dad', and, well," She was struggling, so Howard attempted to help her out,

"All women like babies?" He volunteered aprehensively. Vince almost hit his head and groaned at Howard's inability to talk to women, but thankfully, Ellie laughed and said,

"A bit of a broad stereotype, but yeah". Howard grinned at her as she laughed. Then a thought occured to him,

"What did you hear him say?" Her smile faultered slightly, but she tossed her hair a bit and replied,

"I was just looking in the shop window and heard a toddler say 'Dad' and then the rest was all gibberish," She flashed a cute smile at both of them and continued, "I was probably stood too far away, but he is gorgeous isn't he?" Another smile attached itself to her face, and she bent to coo at Vince, who Howard could just picture squirming in embarrasment, and almost laughed, but she came back up and said,

"Sorry again for being nosy, I just can't resist babies, how old is he?"

"Three", Howard replied, almost grinning, "Today actually".

"Wow, big boy eh?" She was back to chucking Vince's chin, and ruffling his hair, and Howard swore he heard a little 'Hmph' from within the buggy, as she said that.

Howard began to feel slightly uncomfortable around all of the baby talk, so he just coughed a bit and said,

"Now _I'm _the one who seems rude, but we have quite a bit of shopping to get, so..." He trailed off but Ellie got the message.

"Don't worry about it," She laughed, "And again..."

"You're sorry for being rude" Howard interrupted. Ellie burst out into peals of laughter, nodded, and went on her way.

Howard let out a shaky breath, and slowly pushed the buggy in the other direction. A couple of seconds of sulking silence from Vince, and Howard cracked up laughing.

"Shut up! It's not my fault I'm so cute!" Howard could tell Vince was going red, but couldn't resist having a couple more digs at him,

"Watch out Vince, I might just take you through 'M+S', you'll be surrounded by clucking old ladies!" He expected Vince to shout something at him, but a horde of teenagers went past, so Vince simply said,

"I'm thirsty". Howard rolled his eyes, but Vince knew that changing the subject would easily make Howard forget about what just happened. Actually he could make him worry for a bit...

"Howard...". The older man looked down into the buggy, to see the toddler looking up at him with big eyes, and a slightly sad expression on his face,

"I still feel a bit sick". Howard's face changed in half a second from a bit annoyed to worried. Perfect.

"Do you just want to go home? We can come some other time, or..." Vince cut him off by saying,

"I think I just need a drink". Howard nodded and looked around, up and down the high street.

"Look, theres a 'Gregs' just down there, I'll get you some water or something". He set off, unaware that Vince was smiling all the way down there. It was actually quite interesting being in a buggy, Vince thought, you don't usually see things like this. And it was weird going down the street but not actually walking. It was quite comfortable though, he decided, and settled back with a sigh. Howard heard this and looked down once again,

"Vince, you're not getting too tired are you?" Vince shook his head, wanting to get around the list of shops he had written down in his head. In truth, he was pretty tired, and thought he could easily sleep right here, but that meant no new clothes, or drink. It was weird, he mused, because normally he didn't get tired until about, what, half eleven? And it was maybe quarter past three now? He shook his head and continued looking around to see the things you usually couldn't see when you were out shopping normally.

Howard had another sneaky look down at Vince and saw him snuggled down, cuddling up with the throw, but he wasn't falling asleep, he was looking around at people with a bright interest and curiosity, like the type kids seem to possess. He smiled and shook his head fondly, continuing the trundle down to Gregs.

Then a thought occured to him,

"Vince, when that woman, Ellie, was talking to us, she thought you said 'Dad'. Did-did you?" Vince rolled his eyes.

"No, didn't you hear me? I said 'Howard'. I guess that sounds the same at the end, kinda". Howard agreed, but felt quite unnerved as he continued down the street.

--

Inside the shop it was warm and smelt of baking bread, pasties and other goodies. Peeking out from various blankets, Vince craned his neck to look at the food on offer. He stole a glance at Howard who was idly gazing around and felt that he could probably get food out of this.

"Howard?". His friend looked down, and raised an eye brow.

"Can I have some rainbow cake?" Howard rolled his eyes,

"I thought you were just thirsty, _and _you said that you felt sick". The blue eyes never wavered as they continued to look up at him. And he found himself giving in, and said, as they approached the counter,

"Can I have a bottle of water and some rainbow cake please?" The woman serving them beamed at them (Especially Vince, Howard noted) and got their order. She gave the bag to Howard and smiled at Vince,

"Is this cake for you sweetie?" Vince _almost _rolled his eyes, but managed to come up with a smile and said

"Yep! I like the colours". He smiled sweetly at her, and Howard watched in admiration as she melted at the cuteness.

"Isn't he cute!" She clucked at Howard, "Such a sweet little voice, little angel". Howard nodded and hastily swung the buggy around and got out of the shop.

"That was well weird" Vince remarked, again looking around interestedly at other people's legs. That was when Howard realised. How had he not noticed it earlier? Vince's voice had gone from a 25 year old man's voice, to the voice of three year olds! Vince appeared to be thinking along these lines, and cried,

"Bloody hell, how did I not notice this?" Howard grinned, pushing the buggy to the first shop Vince had indicated. It was funny hearing things like that come out of a 3 year old.

--

Vince was feeling quite depressed as Howard pushed him down various parts of Topshop. They had recently brought out toddler clothes, and Vince was ecstatic now, but upon seeing them, didn't think they were up to much. Howard sensed his friend's mood and sighed.

"Vince, you're going to have to just choose, because I am _this _close to going back to Adams". Vince shot him a venemous look and gazed around the shop once more. He was suddenly drawn to a rack with _very _colourful clothes on.

"Howard, over there!" Howard sighed some more, but went over. After a quick look at the tops and jeans, Vince saw that they were made for toddlers, and wanted to go the dressing rooms and try things on _so much_, but directed Howard to several tops that he thought looked "Quite cool". One was a t-shirt that had a huge pingu face on the front, one was bright green, with a bright blue bird on the front (It was one of those ones that you often see on the front of children's clothes, that look like patchwork) and one that was bright yellow, with a pink spatter across the front, like a paint stain. Howard was unsure of what size to get, as Vince was an extremely small toddler, so he just picked the '3-4 years' for everything, thinking that too big was better than too small.

"Ok Vince, we'll stop there, it's trousers you're in desperate need of". Vince nodded, and pointed towards the trouser rack. After a whispered argument (One woman in the shop was sure that she heard a toddler say "If you weren't such a jazzy freak...") they had a pair of denim trousers, and a pair of dungarees, that Vince had pleaded for, saying,

"But dungarees are _in_ this Winter!"

Howard went to the counter, after wincing at the price, and stepped back out into the cold, extremely thankful to be out of that packed shop. Vince looked like he had enjoyed himself, and said (After driving off some strong urges to just lie back and sleep)

"Shoes now!" Howard sighed, and followed Vince's instructions to get to New Look, where they found a pair of toddler converse for £20, (Howard was still unsure how he had been roped into that) and he had yet another argument as they left, with Vince saying he would need more than one pair.

"What if we went to the beach? I can't go on the beach in converse!"

"Vince, there is absolutely no chance of us going to the beach ok?" Vince harrumphed slightly, but then brought up a good point.

"What about socks?" Howard, who had been heading in the direction of the van, cursed and whirled around, hearing a little squeak from inside the buggy as he did so. Not listening to any whines, he headed straight for mothercare, and into the direction of underwear and socks.

Still ignoring the growling coming from within the pushchair, Howard bought one pack of blue and grey socks, which had pictures of trains on the sides (They had been cheapest), and saying apologetically to Vince,

"Sorry little man, this is all they have", he picked up a pack of 7 Mr Men briefs and headed towards checkout, well aware of the moaning coming from below him.

--

After going to Argos, and buying the cheapest carseat there, they were finally heading back to the car, Howard making a mental note to a) ask Naboo for all this money back, and b) Go to Asda on the way back for food. He was saying this to Vince as they passed Topshop, but slowed down when he realised he hadn't gotten a reply for nearly 5 minutes. He knew Vince was annoyed at the things Howard had chosen, but he could never stay quiet for this long.

Howard stopped and looked down into the pushchair, and his eyebrows flew upwards. Vince, lulled by the motion of the buggy and the murmering of passers by, had falled into a contented sleep. His head had fallen to the side, so it was resting on the inside cover of the buggy, and his thumb was nestled in his mouth. Howard smiled at the cute scene, but the sleeping reminded him of something. Pyjamas.

Scowling, he walked (Slowly, trying not to wake the toddler up) back into Topshop and back to the toddler part. He eyed the shelved up and down, and saw a colour he knew Vince would love. Pulling out the powder blue (The label said 'aqua blue sky') material, he saw it was one of those onsie things, that had the feet attached. Howard knew that Vince wouldn't be caught dead wearing something so cute, but he couldn't resist. Quickly scanning the shelves, he caught sight of some actual pyjamas that had a panda face on the front and black bottoms. _What the hell, I'll give him choice _Howard thought. And went back to the counter.

--

Coming out of the shop, the cold air buffeted around them and Vince squeezed his eyes a bit tighter, but was still sleeping peacefully, so Howard now set off for the van, taking great care when going over any cobbles or dents in the pavement. Finally getting back to their vehicle, Howard quietly stuck all the bags in the back of the van, but then on second thought pulled the Argos bag out and quickly put the child seat together, every so often checking on Vince, and stuck the car seat on the passenger seat. That done, he slowly unstrapped Vince and gently lifted him up and placed him on the seat, throw still over him, and strapped him in once more. Sticking the pushchair in the back, Howard got in the drivers seat and smiled at Vince, who was still suckng him thumb contentedly, started the car, and made his way towards Asda.

**For the last time, I know Topshop and New Look don't have things for toddlers, but go with it! The clothes ideas were used from my imagination, except that blue onsie thing, that I saw on the GAP website It's dead sweet. Reviews are replied to with love and chocolate gems ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Again, _thanks for all the positive reviews ;) I hope y'all think this is just as cute  
Disclaimer: I'm sure you all would have heard something if a 15 yr old girl suddenly owned the Boosh ;)**

After 15 or 20 minutes of driving, Howard pulled into the Asda car park. He glanced across at the sleeping toddler on the car seat next to him, smiling slightly at the fact that his thumb was still firmly in his mouth.

"Vince," Howard shook the small boy slightly, resulting in him moaning and trying to edge away, "Come on Vince, we're going into Asda". Vince opened one eye unwillingly. Realising where his thumb was, he whipped it out and straightened up a bit, rubbing at his eyes to try to drive away any more sleep, making litle whining noises as he cleared his throat.

"When did I fall asleep?" He asked, rather grumpily, in that childish voice he had aquired. Howard smiled, and answered,

"Since getting that car seat in Argos," He motioned toward what Vince was sitting on, and continued, "We're really short on food, so we had to stop here". Vince nodded glumly, and looked into the back of the van, clearly remembering what they had just bought.

"Can I try my clothes on Howard?" The older man smiled and nodded. Vince was happy trying anything on, so hopefully trying toddler's clothing on wouldn't dampen his spirits too much. He reached over and unclipped Vince's seatbelt, then got out and went round the side into the back of the van. Vince had already scrambled into the back, and was now looking through the various bags.

"Wait," Howard stopped him and opened the Mothercare bag first, "Here, put your underwear on first". He said, shaking his head as if he found Vince rather stupid. Vince did so, glowering slightly at the back of Howard's head (As he had turned around while Vince was putting his underwear on). He had always _hated _the Mr Men. That done, he chose a pair of blue and grey socks at random and stuck them on over his tiny feet.

After much deliberation, he decided to put the dungarees on, along with the bright green top that had the bright blue bird on the front. However, Howard had decided to get 3-4 years of everything, so the top (Although better than the one he had intially been wearing) was still quite baggy, and the dungarees weren't much better. Still, they weren't falling down, so Howard was thankful for that.

As he turned to see the finished result he was stunned. Vince sat there, cute as a button, (Although Howard suspected he deliberately chose the cutest clothes) looking up at Howard, smiling, but still looking a bit groggy. Howard managed a grin and said,

"Shoes?"

Vince leapt for the New Look bag, and got out the converse they had bought. He stuffed them on his feet and reached for the laces. After a few seconds, it became clear to Howard that something was wrong. Vince stopped knotting the laces and sighed sadly. His bottom lip stuck out and he looked like he was about to cry.

"What's wrong?"

Vince looked up at him with big eyes.

"I can't tie my shoe laces". Howard's heart almost broke as Vince said that, he just sound so dejected. Howard gave him a smile to show him it was alright, bent down and proceeded to tie them for him.

"I normally can, I know exactly what to do, it's just..." He broke off, now extremely close to crying, and Howard, now finished with the laces, patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. This did nothing and Vince inhaled with a shuddering sniff, trying _so hard _not to cry. This kicked Howard's parental gears into full mode, and he pulled Vince into a hug, rubbing circles on his back in a soothing fashion. Vince couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears, that sounded more like a wailing two year old than anything. Howard didn't say anything, just continued to hug Vince until he finally got his emotions in check, sniffed hard and said,

"I'm... I'm ok now". He looked up at Howard, his eyes red and tears still clinging to his eye lashes. "Sorry, I'm just miserable! I can barely do anything! And now I'm falling asleep in the middle of the day and crying over shoe laces". He gave his shoe laces a stern look that made Howard laugh, and pat Vince on the head.

"Come on, I want to get back quickly". He picked Vince up and set him down on the floor, contemplating for a moment whether or not to put him back in the buggy, but remembered this would probably be his weekly shop, so he would need a trolley.

"Vince, are you ok with walking?" He asked. Vince nodded, but was shaking slightly, and Howard realised that they hadn't bought a warm coat in town, and it was the middle of Winter. He sighed and said, more to himself,

"We'll need to get a warm coat". Vince heard this however, and kicked off straight away.

"Are you kidding?! There is no way I am going to wear Asda price clothes!". Howard just shook his head and locked the car. Some serious bribery would need to be in order.

He motioned to Vince to follow as they walked to the shop. Howard cursed as he realised how far away he had parked from it. Looking back, he saw Vince struggling to keep up, slipping on ice (Causing Howard to have some serious flashbacks) and when he finally caught up, Howard saw how tired he still looked.

"Vince, are sure you can walk all the way around?" Vince nodded with dogged persitence and said,

"My legs are just a bit tired, that's all". Howard looked at him doubtfully, and saw that Vince was still pretty upset from before, and he could tell that the toddler didn't want to make himself seem even more childlike than he did. Without a moments hesitation, Howard simply bent down and scooped him up, ignoring the tiny squeak of surprise, and walked with renewed vigour towards the shop. He tried to make Vince warmer (Remember, he was only wearing dungarees and a t-shirt) so he held him closer to himself than he would probably have done in different circumstances.

Vince just sat there and looked at the interesting view over Howard's shoulder, and started to get faintly annoyed at the slight bouncing movement that Howard was making, on purpose or not, but he just suddenly relaxed into it, getting rather comfortable, his head starting to loll against Howard's neck...

"Don't fall asleep yet Vince, can you at least try and wait until we get home?" He was shocked back to full conciousness, and found they were at the front of the shop, Howard trying to get a trolley one-handed. _This isn't working_ Howard thought, so he just placed Vince in the trolley seat and pulled it out.

"What d'you think you're doing?!" Howard looked down at the toddler who had an indignant look on his face, and laughed softly.

"This isn't funny!" Vince almost yelled, "I wanna walk!" Howard raised an eyebrow. Ok, so sometimes Vince was a right little brat, but he never made this much fuss over _nothing_.

"Ok, calm down!" Howard reached in and pulled him out, standing him on the floor next to the trolley. Vince glowered up at him and nearly stamped his foot.

"I _can _walk by myself y'know!" Howard, parts of his patience disappearing bit by bit, bent down so he was eye-level with Vince.

"Look Vince, I've been really patient with you. I don't mind that you don't want to sit in the trolley, but you don't need to shout or act like a brat to do that ok?" Vince nodded sullenly, "And if you do act like that again, I _will_ put you in the trolley". With that he turned on his heel and headed towards the entrance, well aware of a small boy scurrying after him, rather frightened.

_I think I handled that rather well_ Howard thought, praising himself. He hadn't had that much exprience with toddlers, but did know how to be firm with them. He shook his head slightly, subconciously slowing down so Vince could catch up, Vince _wasn't _a toddler, so he shouldn't have to be firm with him like that should he?

--

They were only 5 minutes into the clothes part of the shop when Vince very nearly had a serious tantrum over the jacket Howard had picked out. There wasn't much choice, and he had done his best, but even Howard had to admit that the final jacket was, well a bit naff really. It was just plain black, with a droopy hood that had fake fur lining it, fake fur that had gone all bobbly at the back. He made Vince try it on, pleased to see that it fit fine, even though the label said  
'2-2 and 1/2 yrs'.

Vince had furrowed his eyebrows as he wore it. Looking in the mirror, he pulled a face of disgust and glared up at Howard.

"I am NOT wearing this". Howard sighed frustratedly and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Vince, you're not going to be wearing it for long are you? Plus, the sooner we do this, the sooner we can go buy the food, and look at the magazines..." Vince looked up, hopeful, and said,

"Can I have one?" Howard rolled his eyes,

"Will you wear this coat?" Vince shot a look of hatred at it, but nodded. Howard patted him on the back and threw it in the trolley.

--

They were walking down the fruit and vegetables aisle where Howard picking up various bags of fruit and studying them before putting them down and choosing different ones. Vince had been rather good after the whole magazine subject came up. Now however, he clung to the side of the trolley looking extremely bored. He had almost been separated from Howard as a huge throng of people merged from the checkouts, so Howard had made him hold onto the trolley.

Howard looked back at him after finally choosing a bag of bananas that weren't bruised, and frowned. Vince was glowering at absolutely everything, looking extremely angry. What could have made him this bratty? Howard worried for a moment that that potion might be doing something, making him a complete toddler, but when he pushed the trolley forward, towards the dairy aisle, he noticed Vince stumbling and whimpering slightly. Then it became extremely obvious. His body was a three year olds. Three year olds get tired quicker, he had like, a 20 minute sleep after a long night (Before he changed, but it would still make him tired) and toddlers always get cranky after no sleep. Howard remembered from last time, he was bratty after waking in the middle of the night after a nightmare.

He sighed. There was no way he could sleep now. The best thing to do was to just stick him in the trolley and promise him something good.

"VInce?" The toddler looked up and scowled slightly.

"Are you tired?" Vince nodded and yawned slightly, and thankfully, didn't object to Howard scooping him up and dumping him in the trolley seat. He sniffed a bit (_Please don't be coming down with something _Howard pleaded) and looked around again at this different perspective. The seat was curved slightly so it was like a real chair, with a back to it, and Vince felt himself nodding off, just as Howard prodded him in the chest and whispered,

"Not now little man, but I promise you can sleep as soon as we get back, ok? I'll even get you a magazine". Vince nodded unwillingly and mumbled,

"NME". Howard nodded and continued down the aisles.

--

Down the canned goods aisle, Vince started sniffing, quite a lot. He coughed several times, and he looked rather flushed. Howard frowned and felt his forehead. He was quite hot, and definatley had a cold of some kind. He coughed again, and this time, to Howard and Vince's surprise, a woman in front of them turned around and smiled sympathetically at Howard.

"Hi, I see you've got one unhappy bairn there huh?" Howard could only nod, astounded by the woman's way with children. She stroked Vince's cheek soothingly and after a few seconds he fell into her hand, eyes closing lazily, a smile creeping on his face. After several minutes, she looked up at Howard and said,

"I think he's just got a bad cold. Get plenty of fluids down him. If it gets worse, call me." With that she passed him a card that had a number on it. Seeing Howard's face, she shook her head slightly and laughed,

"No worries, I'm a doctor at a baby clinic in Dalston, its getting to that time of year that the flu jabs are important," She smiled some more and said, "Sorry for disturbing your shopping". With that she was gone, and Howard again had to prod Vince, who was quickly falling asleep. Thankfully, he seemed a little bit cooler, but his nose was running quite a lot.

"Come on little man, we're going now," Seeing Vince's face he smiled, "Don't worry, I got it" and pointed to a magazine in the trolley. Vince smiled and Howard turned to the direction of the tills.

--

Asking extremely nicely, Howard got a cashier to push the trolley to the van, as he picked Vince up and held him comfortably, rocking just a bit, that wasn't really noticeable, but it seemed to lull Vince so much he dropped off, cuddling into Howard subconciously. Getting the trolley to the car, the cashier put the bags in the back and smiled at Vince,

"My, he's a sweetie pie isn't he?" Howard looked down at the sleeping boy in his arms and smiled at her.

"Yes, yes he is". He replied extremely sincerely. For the second time that day, he strapped a sleeping toddler into the front of the car, and drove off.

**I'm not really happy with this ending, but I'm so tired, it's the best I can come up with. Reviews are lovingly given satin cushions and yoghurt ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok, I didn't have a plot outline AT ALL for this scene, so apologies if it's, y'know, utter crap ;) Cheers again for reviews :)  
Also, apparently babies and toddlers don't get flu jabs, which I only know cause my mum is a medical health receptionist, and I asked how people ask to book appointments (Cause obviously I never have). So just go with it, and pretend they do, ok? Just to make me happy ;)  
Disclaimer: Duh. Isn't it obvious now?**

Howard stopped the car outside the shop and smiled as he heard the deep breathing of a sleeping child. Very quietly, he got out of the car and dumped the shopping bags in the shop. This done, he picked Vince up and walked upstairs to the flat. He lay the toddler on the sofa and covered him up with the colourful throw that he had discarded when choosing the beige one, and went to put the shopping away.

--

It had only been about 20 minutes, and Howard had just made himself a cup tea, and settled down to read a good book, when Vince's phone went off. Gary Numan's 'Cars' blasted out at full volume, making the boy leap awake and start crying. Bemused, Howard quickly reached for the phone and answered, whilst simultaneously trying to comfort Vince.

"Hello?"

_"Howard? It's Naboo, how's Vince?" _Howard put the phone next to Vince, who was crying noisely, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

_"Oh." _Was all that Howard got as he put the phone back to his ear, _"What's wrong with him?"_

"You decided to call when he was sleeping, so he got shocked awake and suddenly started crying!" Howard could tell that Naboo was thinking hard.

_"Don't worry about it Howard, he's going to cry at more things right now, if he hurts himself, chances are it'll hurt more. Apart from that though, is he ok?"_

"Yeah, we just got back from shopping, I think he's got quite a bad cold though. Some woman gave me her number from this baby clinic when she heard him cough"

_"Thats actually quite a good idea, his immune systems will be those of a 3 year old, so it is best if you get him a flu jab"._

"Have you found a cure yet?" Howard heard drunken laughter in the background, and guessed Naboo's answer.

_"Erm, bit of a hiccup at the moment, don't worry though, it's all going ok"._

"Yeah whatever"

_"Howard, I'm going to go, call me if anything happens". _With that he hung up, and Howard turned back to Vince, who had stopped crying and was (And Howard marvelled at his ability to loose interest in something) pulling at his top and dungarees, to see how big they were.

"I think I got the wrong size there, sorry little man". Vince looked up at him and gave a small humph.

"Have you seen how baggy it is by my arse?" Howard stifled a laugh as Vince pulled at the back of his dungarees, which were indeed extremely baggy.

"I think that's where they make it bigger for those training pants you can get". Vince sighed and flopped down on the sofa. His nose was still running, and Howard had to fight the urge to wipe it with a tissue. Instead, he handed his friend a tissue and pointed towards his nose. Vince rolled his eyes and coughed some more. Howard patted him on the back and said,

"I'll get you a drink". Vince nodded, and delved into the bag with his copy of NME in it. Unravelling it, he wrinkled his forehead as he stared at the front cover, seeing letters and blurs that meant _something, _but he didn't know what.

"Howard! I think I'm going blind!" Howard looked around to see Vince glancing worriedly at his magazine.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't see the words properly! They're all blurry and mixed, I can see some letters, but..." Howard smiled at him sympathetically.

"I don't think you're going blind Vince, you just probably can't read". He said this in an offhand manner, in an attempt to calm Vince down.

"Well now what do I do?!" Vince wailed as he threw himself down onto the sofa, "Can't read, can't draw! I might as well just become a jazz musician!" Howard rolled his eyes and passed Vince a glass that had orange juice in it.

"Can I have my rainbow cake as well?" Vince asked, immediately forgetting the situation. Howard pointed to a plate on the table, and Vince carefully got down from the sofa and toddled over to it. It was almost amusing, if it hadn't of been somehow depressing, to watch Vince trying and failing to get on the chair. After a quick glance at Howard, he flushed a pale pink colour and tried to get up, but this resulted in the chair falling down and Vince nearly falling with it. Howard went over (After quickly checking that Vince wasn't hurt) and picked him up.

After being plonked on the chair, he scoffed the cake (Millions of crumbs flying everywhere) and reached for the glass of juice. He had it grasped in his hands one minute, but on tipping it down his throat, it slipped slightly and he found himself with a lap full of juice and glass. He jumped in shock as it happened and looked fearfully over at Howard.

The older man sighed, but went over and took the glass of Vince's lap and then looked down at him.

"It didn't take you very long to ruin those dungarees did it?" Vince cowered, as if scared he was going to be told off, however, Howard smiled at him and Vince knew it was alright.

"Right, I'm not risking the only other pair of trousers you have, so just get into the pyjamas we bought". This caused a confused expression to hop onto Vince's face.

"We didn't buy any pyjamas!" Howard gave him a slightly nervous smile and said,

"It was when you fell asleep, I remembered we didn't have any, so I went back to get some"

"Where did you go?"

"Topshop". Vince considered this, but nodded. Even if Howard chose the PJ's, they were from Topshop, so they must be ok.

"Can I see them?" Howard grinned,

"Well you're going to have to if you want to wear them". Vince gave him a slight slap on the arm, but was growing more aware of the uncomfortable sogginess seeping into his dungarees.

"Whatever, but can you hurry? It feels like I've wet myself". He pulled a disgusted grimace, which made Howard chortle and go over to the sofa, where he had dumped the bags. Reaching in the Topshop one, he pulled out the two pairs of pyjamas he had bought. Without thinking, he pulled out the blue one first. Realising this, he quickly looked at Vince's face, to catch his reaction.

At first, he smiled as all he saw was a bundle of blue. Then, as it unravelled, his smile dropped slightly as he saw it was a onsie. Howard almost closed his eyes in embarresment, but kept looking at Vince.

"It's a bit... y'know, _aqua_. I think that's gone out of fashion a bit this week Howard, but I do like the colour". Howard's mouth almost fell open. Did he honestly not care that his best friend had bought him a _onesie_ to sleep in? He managed to ask this question out loud, and his mouth hung open even more when Vince replied,

"Not really, 'cause they're never out of fashion are they? I mean, it never says anywhere if they are or not. I don't think I'd be able to wear them _now_ though. I mean, for bed ok, but for just like, up and about, I don't think I would".

When shown the other pair, he smiled a dazzling smile at Howard.

"They are well genius Howard! It reminds me of my panda, back at the zoo! And the cut of the leg is in as well". Howard's eyeballs rolled in their sockets so much he was surprised they didn't fall out.

"That's all you are about isn't it?" Vince shrugged, and went to tugging the dungarees off. However, he got stuck at the buttons on the straps.

"Howard..."

--

Going from being able to straighten his own hair whilst putting skinny jeans on, to having to ask Howard to undress him and help him into his pyjamas in one afternoon, dampened Vince's spirits a bit. He was rather subdued as they sat on the sofa (Again, Vince having to be placed there by his friend) watching Colobus the Crab repeats, and he didn't seem to be able to stop his nose running. All in all, he felt really lousy, and was almost glad when he started to feel tired again.

"Hey Vince, do you want to try and draw something?" Howard's question dragged him out of his thoughts, and he looked up at him, "It's just you're not really getting into this, so you might be able to lose yourself in drawing". Vince sighed but agreed that if he tried his drawing for a bit, it might just get better, so he had _something _to tide himself over until he got his creative abilities back.

After again being put there, Vince sat at the table, looking the face of concentration, his tongue stuck out slightly as he focused on the peice of paper in front him. Howard was pretending to read as he watched Vince over the top of his book, frowning as he saw how hard his friend was concentrating on what would eventually come out as a puddle of colour, next to a wobbly stick person, who Vince proclaimed sadly was Howard.

After a few more minutes of silence, that was broken every so often with a growl enemating around the room and a stabbing pen-on-paper sound, Howard put down his book and said,

"I think you should go to bed Vince, you didn't get that much sleep last night, and you were shattered this afternoon". Vince nodded sadly and slid off his chair, leaving his drawings on the table and walked over to Howard, who automatically picked him up and placed him on the sofa. Vince sniffled and Howard looked down, remembering his friend's cold.

"Do you want a box of tissues in bed with you?". Vince nodded glumly and sniffed again. He felt so bad all he wanted to do was crawl into bed and forget all about it. He snuggled a tiny bit closer to Howard, and hugged him.

"Thanks Howard, for y'know... everything really, the clothes and all". Howard smiled back and hugged him, rather shyly. He stood up and took Vince with him, holding the toddler close to him as he picked up a box of tissues and carried them both to the bedroom. Carefully putting Vince on the bed, Howard opened the window slightly in case Vince got too hot in the night, and turned back to the boy. He was layed down on the bed, thumb moving bit by bit upwards, and Howard could tell it would got straight to his mouth as soon as he left the room.

"Night little man".

"Night Howard".

Howard closed the door, and walked over to the sofa, knowing from last time that he would have to go to bed quite late if he wanted to avoid waking Vince up. He sighed and settled down, flicking around the television channels idily.

_I wonder if Lester got that show he wanted yet...he did say that the TV company were interested in severed heads playing trumpets..._

With this thought in his head, he continued flicking around, sometimes pausing on jazz programmes, until long past 10.

--

He was just dozing off, when he heard the bedroom door open slightly, and heard a swift patter of toddler's footsteps on the floor, heading towards the bathroom. Jerking his head up, Howard looked around in time to see Vince shut the bathroom door. He got up and made his way to the bathroom.

"You ok Vince?" He heard a curse and what sounded like someone kicking a toilet, but kept knocking, until Vince finally opened the door, pink with embarresment. Looking intently at the floor, he mumbled,

"I can't reach the toilet". Howard very nearly laughed, but realised the seriousness of the situation, as Vince was obviously _desperate _for the toilet, jumping from one foot to the other, still not looking Howard in the eyes. Howard thought briefly, and put his finger up in the 'one minute' gesture.

He hurried into the living room, as Vince watched him in curiosity, and found... _aha, I knew I hadn't thrown it out._

The cardboard box that had held a collection of jazz magazines was sat next to the sofa, still full, and Howard pushed his hand on it firmly. It would definatley stand the weight of a very small 3 year old.

He walked briskly back down the landing, and stuck the box in front of the toilet,

"I'm going to get ready for bed, Vince". Vince smiled and nodded gratefully, climbing onto the box as Howard closed the door.

--

Howard was in bed as Vince came back in, announcing that he had had to push the box in front of the sink to wash his hands. He looked up at the bed with a sad smile on his face. Howard sighed. This was his cue to plonk Vince on his bed. However, Vince looked over at him and said, shyly,

"Can I sleep in your bed for tonight? This one feels too big and empty..." He tailed off, but Howard smiled and picked him up to take him over the gap that was between their beds.

"Thanks Howard". Vince smiled beautifully up at him with tired eyes.

"No problem, go to sleep now". Vince nodded and turned on his side, so Howard wouldn't see him sucking his thumb. It calmed him, and he didn't want his friend to tease him about it. After only 5 minutes, Howard heard Vince's breath evening out and getting slower, so he smiled slightly and closed his eyes. The sound of a toddler sucking his thumb bizzarely soothing him into a deep and contented sleep.

**Why do I end nearly every chapter with Vince and/or Howard asleep? And sorry if that bit about Lester was a really weak joke, I'm soooo tired :( Reviews please!! Plus, I don't know when I'm next gonna update, I have severe writers block at the moment :s**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hiya ;) Again, thanks for reviews ;) They're well looked after :)  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Boosh OR Wallace and Gromit. They belong to Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt and Nick Park :D**

Howard opened his eyes, and found himself awakening to a face full of toddler. Vince had curled up in the night and his hair was tickling Howard's face. The older man smiled and got up carefully, squashing himself up against the wall so he didn't wake his friend up. He stood up and watched as Vince slowly unfurled, somehow realising that he now had the bed to himself. He lay in a spread-eagled position, thumb never leaving his mouth, and he snuggled into the part of the duvet that Howard had had over him, sniffling slightly, and Howard couldn't work out whether that was because of the cold, or because (And Howard kind of hoped it was the second one) he missed him slightly now he was out of the bed.

Howard quickly got dressed and walked out of the room, deciding that an early morning cup of tea was seriously in order. He made two cups out of habit, but then scowled, as he thought about what had happened last night, and if that happened again, well he'd probably have a screaming child on his hands and possibly a trip to casualty. He left the second cup on the bench and and strolled over to the cupboards, taking two bowls out, and a box of cornflakes. He looked at the box for a second and shook his head. He had no idea what Vince wanted for breakfast, and since he knew nothing about babies, he had no idea what he _could_ eat.

However, he heard the sounds of someone getting up and sleepily getting dressed, so he decided to leave him to it, and settled down on the sofa, slowly drinking his tea, and feeling any first morning tiredness ebb away.

Vince appeared, rubbing his eyes to get rid of any sleep, and smiled at Howard. He was dressed in his new jeans and pingu top, new pair of socks on, and hair thoroughly attacked with a comb, and sprayed all over with hairspray, and Howard had to admit it looked good, almost like he'd straightened it.

"Morning little man". Vince mumbled something back that Howard took for granted as a 'Good morning'.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Vince perked up slightly, and yawned before saying,

"What are you having?"

"Just cornflakes". Vince appeared to be thinking hard, and when he finally decided he looked up at Howard,

"I'll have cornflakes too then". Howard was surprised, but set to work pouring out a small amount into one bowl, and a bigger amount in the other. Doing the same with the milk, he set the bowls on the table and motioned at Vince to come and get it, but the boy was too interested in something on the telly. Howard quirked an eyebrow, and went over. He almost laughed, but simply prodded Vince in the back and said,

"It's ready". Vince dragged his eyes away from Wallace and Gromit and went to join Howard at the table, every so often looking back to see what was happening.

As they ate, Howard was thinking, hard. The first thoughts were about Vince deciding to have cornflakes as well. He couldn't decide whether it was because he hadn't wanted to put the older man to any bother, or because he wanted to- Howard wasn't quite sure... _be _like him? It must be the first one, because Vince wasn't like this before. Shaking his head, he moved his train of thought to Wallace and Gromit. It wasn't that weird, loads of people love it. Hell, Vince probably still did, that's why he was so into it. Howard shook his head once more. It would be fine he thought, before turning his attentions to Vince.

The boy had somehow managed to get more cornflakes on and around him than actually in his mouth. It was as if his arm had a mind of it's own. It just shoved the spoon in the corner of his mouth, making half of the flakes fall onto his lap and the floor. To be fair though, thought Howard, he isn't whining about it. Howard looked over at him and smiled.

"Ok?". Vince nodded and sniffed some more, which drew Howard's attentions to Vince's flushed complexion. How had he not noticed before? Vince coughed a few times, which made Howard's mind up.

"I'm going to call that baby clinic and make you an appointment," Howard saw Vince's eyes widen slightly (He had never been fond of doctors appointments) and said quickly, "Naboo agrees, he said that your immune systems would be those of a three year old, so it would be best to get you a flu jab, just in case". Vince paled at that last bit. He hated needles. Howard missed this and picked up the phone. Looking at the card in his hand, he saw that the woman's name was 'Dr. J. McCarty'.

He tapped the number into the phone and waited. Very soon, a crisp and proffesional voice answered.

"Hello Dalston surgery, Helen speaking, how can I help you?"

"Hello, I'd like an appoitnment at the baby clinic with... Dr McCarty?"

"Certainly sir, name?"

"Howard Moon"

"Babie's name?"

"Vince N- Moon". Howard stuttered, as Vince looked up, confused. After a light tapping at the keyboard of a computer, Helen spoke again,

"Sir, there isn't a Vince Moon listed with us"

"I, I know, we er, we just moved here, I'd like him checked out". More tapping.

"Ok, how is tomorrow at 10?"

"Perfect".

"OK, you'll need to register with us when you get here"

"That's fine, bye". Howard put the phone down. Vince looked up at him,

"Why did you say my last name was 'Moon'?"

"Because we're going to have to say you're my son". He went slightly red as he said this, but Vince nodded and turned back to look at Wallace and Gromit, wiping his nose down his arm. Disgusted, Howard pulled out a tissue and couldn't help himself, he walked over to Vince and wiped the nose fully, before looking down and seeing the lap of soggy cornflakes and the cornflakes littering the floor as well.

"God, we'll need to get you a bib at this rate". Howard said, smiling at Vince to show he wasn't serious. Vince smiled back slightly, but kept his attentions focused on Gromit building a train track, not really paying any attention. Rolling his eyes, Howard glanced up at the clock. Round about this time he would open the shop. Should he bother? Vince couldn't exactly pull customers _now_ could he? Still, it would give them something to do for most of the day. Actually, Howard thought slyly, there might be a way to get customers...

"Hey Vince, do you want to open the shop up?". Vince nodded vaguely and slid off his chair, dragging his attention away from the telly. He headed towards the stairs and looked down them, his face set as if about to climb Mount Kilamanjaro. Howard watched, amused, as Vince first clung to the rails and tried going down normally, but his short legs wouldn't reach that far. He sighed and sat down on the stairs, and Howard expected him to just whine and say he'd given up. However, he grabbed hold of the railing and pulled himself down the stairs, one at a time, sliding down them on his backside.

Finally down them, he looked up to see Howard taking the slightly more dignified approach of walking down, and frowned.

"Well now what do I do?" Howard smiled and picked him up. Vince, no idea of where he was being taken, immediately relaxed into his friends arms, but was shocked as he was unceremoniously dumped on the red barbers chair in the corner of the shop, nearest to the window.

"Why am I here?" Still slightly dazed from the comfortable arms.

"You might still be able to drag customers in here if you just smile cutely or something". Vince stuck his tongue out at Howard, but looked out of the window and instantly spied some hot electro girls. Quick as a flash he popped his thumb in his mouth and smiled at them. They walked over to the window and cooed at him, then, one of them noticed the open sign and they all walked in, pretending to be looking at the clothes, but bit by bit edging towards Vince who was still smiling serenly, sucking his thumb and looking up in the shop lights slightly, making his blue eyes twinkle. Howard shook his head as the girls lost all pretence and hurried over, giggling and stroking his hair, cheeks etc, but even he was drawn to how cute Vince managed to act. Remembering the reason Vince was sucking his thumb, Howard went over and said,

"Morning ladies, I see you were looking at our range of clothes". THe girls looked up at him, and one said rather shyly,

"Is this your son?" Howard was put off, but seeing Vince nod behind their backs, he nodded as well.

"He's well cute". One of them announced, and Vince turned on a bit more of the charm, by grabbing her hand and saying (And Howard marvelled at his acting ability) shyly,

"Hewwo". Howard couldn't tell whether it was because his thumb was in his mouth or he meant to say it like that, but the effect on the girls was instantaneous. They all said a very high pitched,

"Awww!" In unison, and Howard was now bowled over as three of them (They had come in a group of four) now purchased the clothes they had been looking at, and after having one more stroke of the hair, they piled out of the shop, now whispering to each other about god knows what.

Howard looked across at Vince, and saw that even he was a bit dazed by the attention. Smiling, he waved a hand in front of the toddler's face, and said,

"Well done! Just do that to about four or five more people and we'll get about £1000 in just a morning!"

--

Incredibly, they made more than this, all it took was for Vince to suck his thumb, yawn or smile at the people who appeared to have cloistered around the window, and they all turned to butter and came in, cooing and barely looking at what they bought. The rest of the morning passed much like this, and Howard closed the shop at around lunchtime, seeing that Vince was getting slightly hotter, and his nose was running uncontrollably. Picking him up, Howard bore him away upstairs, where he wiped his nose again, and wished that he had made that appointment for today.

"Do you want to close the shop now?". Vince shook his head, and Howard saw with some relief that he had started to cool down.

"Nah, I'm ok, but I'm kinda hungry". He looked up at Howard, who nodded and got to work.

"Will beans on toast satisfy you?" Vince looked hesitant but nodded, and decided to have another go at drawing while his lunch was being made.

--

After a while, it looked like it was improving. Howard had suggested doing something simple, and Vince had complied by drawing one of those small square houses and stick people, like the ones in small children's drawings. He smiled sadly as he waved it in his friends face.

"Its getting a bit better". Howard saw he still looked slightly downcast, so he said,

"Don't worry little man, I'm sure it won't be long before Naboo finds the cure and you'll be your old self again". Vince had a look on his face that Howard couldn't place, so he just montioned to Vince's steadily freezing meal. He nodded sullenly and picked up his knife and fork.

--

They got downstairs to see a crowd of people around the door.

"Oh my god," Moaned Howard, "I didn't realize you were _that_ popular". He looked down, expecting to see Vince thrilled at all the attention, but saw a, he wasn't sure, a _frightened _look?

"I don't really want to open the shop anymore Howard". Vince mumbled, sounding pretty pathetic. Howard nodded in agreement, and was just turning to go back up, Vince huddled in his arms, when they heard a knock on the front door, and _Naboo_ was stood there, mouthing to be let in. Howard went over, still clutching Vince in his arms, and opened the door just enough to let their friend/boss/landlord in.

"What're you doing here?" Vince asked, and Naboo was rather startled at how at ease he looked being held by Howard.

"Just come to see how you are". He replied, trying to get over the cuteness of the toddler. However, Vince narrowed his eyes and said,

"Whatever, you've come to say there isn't a cure haven't you?" Vince's voice cracked slightly and Howard could feel rather than see, tears threatening to fall any minute. He bounced up and down a bit, which calmed the boy in his arms, but Howard could tell how much his friend wanted to put his thumb in his mouth.

"Er, Naboo, why don't we talk over here?" They walked over to the back of the shop, Howard first sticking Vince on a seat in the shop, which meant that he could suck his thumb without being laughed at by Naboo.

"What's wrong Naboo? There _is_ a cure, isn't there?" Naboo nodded, and Howard felt relief trickle through him.

"I honestly did just come to see how he was. Oh, and give you this". It was piece of paper that had Naboo's slanting writing down it.

"I thought seeing as how you were going to the baby clinic, you would need to register. This has a list that they'll fall for. Previous adress, mother's name etc".

"Thanks Naboo! So," He lowered his voice slightly, "How long do you think it'll be until you find the cure?". Naboo had just turned to go, turning back just to say,

"Honestly Howard? I really don't know".

With that he was gone.

**Ok, I found that ending bizzare (And to be honest, I'm not sure why), although hopefully you might all find it... I don't know, suspenseful? A bit of a dangler? Professional? Lol, I don't know. Please review, every review counts towards my will to go on :p**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hiya! Thanks for reviews. I seem to get less and less to say here. I don't know why though...  
Disclaimer: Don't own the Boosh or Robots in Disguise**

Howard squeezed his eyes shut and felt a migraine coming on. After going back upstairs, Vince had done nothing but sniff and try to draw. So the sniffing mixed with the crumpling of paper was just about to push him over the edge.

"Vince, no offence, but you're going to give me a headache, so do you mind relocating?" Vince nodded sadly, and trudged to their bedroom, having to pull his trousers up every couple of steps. _I really need to wash those dungarees _Howard thought, _At least the straps don't fall down. Plus, he looks cuter in them... _

What?! He had _not _just thought that! Ok, he admitted he had thought that Vince was cute over the last couple of days, but for some reason that one seemed different. More _serious _in a way. Shaking his head to get rid of these feelings, Howard decided to seee if anything good was on. Turning on the telly, he had a few minutes of peace before hearing a toddler belting out Robots in Disguise's 'The Sex has made me stupid'. It made Howard groan out loud and cover his head with his hands. If there was any kind of music he hated most, it was electo.

--

Vince pushed the volume button up, as far as it could go, and was now dancing around, practically yelling along with Dee Plume and Sue Denim. About to turn it over, Vince leant forward (He was dancing on his bed, it had taken him quite a while to get on it as well), but Howard slammed the door open at that moment, just to see Vince jump in fright, lose his balance, and fall off the end of his bed. Never had the apartment been so loud. You had RID's 'Arguments' (The song had changed) blasting out at full vloume, and a screaming child mixing in with that. Howard almost started yelling as well, his headache getting worse. However, he walked calmly over to the CD player, and turned it off. That somehow seemed to amplify Vince's wailing, and he feebly tried to bat Howard away as he bent down to pick him up, but the older man ignored it and was soon in walking out of the room, trying _so hard_ not to yell at Vince, who in turn was yelling in his ear.

"Vince, just calm down, ok? You only banged your head a bit". Vince was indeed calming down, but it was only because Howard was sat on the sofa, holding him in an extremely comfortable position, rocking him slightly and brushing his hands lightly through the toddler's hair. Soon, he had stopped crying altogether, and was nestling himself into Howard, who was subconsiously rocking, and making 'shhh'ing noises. He looked down, and smiled, Vince was cuddling into him, positively purring, and looking quite dazed when Howard shook him gently and said,

"I think we need to go out. You're getting bored, and I need some fresh air". Vince nodded, and Howard expected him to get off his lap, but to his surprise, Vince stayed snuggled up to Howard, looking up with huge watery eyes.

"How about the park?". Vince nodded again, and Howard decided to try and get some friendly banter going.

"Wow Vince, if you're really this tired, perhaps you should just go in the buggy?..." He raised an eyebrow, but Vince just said,

"Ok".

"Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah, m'just a bit tired". Howard smiled at him. All of the crying must have worn him out. But he shrugged and stood up carefully, taking Vince with him, who started smiling tiredly.

"Vince, you do realise I won't always be able to carry you somewhere?" Howard said, but Vince just looked up and tried to wrap his arms all the way round his friend.

"But you're comfy!" He moaned, leaving Howard speechless. However, he just shook his head and went down the stairs carefully, trying to go down sideways so that Vince wouldn't get dragged along the wall, getting squashed against it.

As they got outside, Howard cursed himself, rembering how cold it was, and the terrible cold that Vince had. Still, he was looking slightly better, and a bit of fresh air couldn't hurt. The park wasn't far, so Howard decided to walk there, so he settled Vince in the buggy, putting the throw over him once more, and set off.

--

Vince snuggled down happy in the buggy. It was sunny out, and although that added some heat to the atmosphere, it was still absolutely freezing, so he gathered a bit more of the blanket up, and let out a shaky breath, enjoying seeing the white steam issuing from his mouth. The park was near a slightly older part of Dalston, where cobbles were rising up out of the pavement in front of the entrance. Going over these was a slightly nausiating experience for Vince, but he didn't say anything, mostly because he was so comfortable, but he saw how relaxed Howard now looked, and it looked like his headache was vanishing. This made Vince feel slightly guilty, as he knew that _he_ was the one who caused it, but continued to say nothing, as they rolled through the greens of the park, passing the ducks.

Vince was thinking how much he loved sitting by the ducks when he was a child, just watching them swimming serenely on the surface, while feeling the sun on his face, and the calm breezes flowing through his hair.

Howard meanwhile, was thinking about the last time they had come here, Vince begging to feed 'the duckies', but then proceeding to fall in. He smiled. He would probably never see that side of his friend again. Fair enough, he was much cuter now, and a tiny bit more innocent, but it wasn't the same. If Howard suggested feeding the ducks now, he'd be laughed at and possibly called a twat. If he suggested reading a story, Vince would look at him in disgust. He sighed, unaware that Vince was admiring the fog that hovered in the air afterwards, and was trying to figure out how to get Howard to walk round the play park. He hadn't been in one for _ages, _and when he tried, he got such weird looks he had to run away and try to hide in the nearest Topshop, until all the embaressment went.

"Hey Howard?"

"Mmm?"

"D'ya wanna walk round the cafe way?". Howard raised his eyebrows, but nodded and walked in that direction, well aware that right next to the cafe was a playpark, full of wooden and metal things that children just _love _to play on. As they got in sight, Howard saw several parents sipping cups of coffee, sat on wooden benches and occasionaly waving at their children.

"Do you want a drink Vince?". On not getting an answer, he looked down to see Vince staring somewhat wistfully at the play park, and glancing around at the various kids running about, _They're all older than me but not _Vince thought to himself, and laughed softly, not really seeing the joke.

"Vince?"

Howard's questioning tone brought him back to reality, and he looked up and said

"Nah, I'm alright".

"Hi"

Howard turned around to see a woman who looked to be in her mid twenties, early thirties. She had jet black hair and intelligent green eyes. She too was pushing a buggy (_Though I doubt her best friend's in there, _Howard thought wryly).

"Er, hi" Howard replied, smiling as she bent down to coo Vince.

"Awww, he's precious, is he your son?"

"Erm, yes, yeah, his mother died... giving birth". The woman put on her sympathetic face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!". Howard shrugged and, deciding to be bold said,

"So, is..." he paused, having a quick look at the colour of the clothes, "..she. Is she your daughter?"

"No, my neice. My sister and her husband went out for the day, so she put me in charge of little Rosie here". She smiled at Howard and continued,

"My name's Beth, by the way". Howard nodded and said,

"I'm Howard, and this is Vince". He motioned towards his friend, who looked faintly bored by the proceedings.

"Erm, do you want to grab a coffee? The kids look like they could do with some exercise, so we could stick them on the see-saw and?..." She tailed off, looking rather hopeful. Vince tried his hardest to look like he wasn't really bothered about going in the play park, but couldn't manage it and let some excitement show on his face. It would have been alright if it had just been him and Howard, but Beth saw this and smiled at him.

"Yes, you want to go on the swings don't you precious?" Vince wriggled uncomfortably. He couldn't stick baby talk, and looked at Howard for help.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Howard replied, saving his friend from any more torment, "let me just wrap him up first, he has a bad cold" He explained to Beth, who nodded and went to wrap up her neice. Rosie looked about 4, Howard reckoned, and could just imagine Vince being beaten up by an older toddler, so he whispered to him,

"Please don't argue with Rosie, she looks old enough to knock you out". He glanced worriedly across to the other toddler, but heard laughter coming from Vince.

"Give over Howard! Come on, let me get out". Howard stepped aside and Vince leapt out of the buggy, and tugged Howard's trousers slightly, indicating that he had to walk with him over to the park, as that was what Beth was doing with Rosie. Sticking Vince in the middle of the park, he turned to see Beth behind him,

"Are we still on for that coffee?" Howard smiled and nodded, letting her walk out of the park first and shooting one more glance at Vince. He couldn't help feel sorry for him. He looked like the smallest there, and quite a few were more boisterous than him. Vince wasn't exactly a serious child, but he wasn't one for a game of stuck in the mud either. Still, he looked happy enough as he went over to the swings, special ones that toddlers could easily get on, and Vince was smart enough to pull down the little bar that would stop him falling out.

Howard followed Beth to the cafe. They both got coffees and sat down on one of the wooden benches, close to the park.

"Vince is so cute!" Beth trilled, and Howard took this as his cue to say,

"Er, thanks. Rosie's cute as well". Beth smiled prettily and Howard smiled back. There was a pause and Howard found himself thinking wildly, _Talk to her about anything. First thing that pops into your head. _

"Do you like Jazz?"

--

Vince, now bored with swinging, looked over at Howard. Him and Beth looked to be getting on like a house on fire. They were laughing and chatting, at one point she laughed so hard at his little story, she blew foam everywhere. Then it looked like she asked Howard to mop it off her, which he did, blushing slightly all the while. Vince rolled his eyes. Howard should really learn when a woman was flirting with him.

_Actually,_ thought Vince, _she looks well dodgy._ _Howard's better off away from her. _

Getting off the swing, he toddled over to the gate, and after several attempts, he managed to get it open. He was a bit surprised that neither of the adults noticed he was out of the park. His eyes widened as he saw them both leaning forward slightly, and knew he had to do something. Vince could suss this woman out in an instant. She was trouble. So as hers and Howard's faces got closer together Vince decided to intervene.

He started to run, and then threw himself on the ground, making it looked like he'd fallen over. How he managed the next part, he had no idea, but he let out an enormous wail, that turned every parent's head. He was pleased to see Howard had jerked his head away from that woman, but scowled to see that they were both running over. Unfortunately, Beth got there first.

"Awww, Vince, what's wrong sweetie-pie?" Vince cried even louder, even though it barely hurt, and continued to cry and thrash about until Howard came over, looking worried.

"I don't know what's wrong Howard, he won't stop crying". She passed him over to Howard, who looked at a loss, despite being able to calm Vince easily at home. Still, he held him closer than he would usually, and rocked, making Vince stop and pass off some very convincing snuffles.

They walked back to the table their coffee had been at, and Howard sat down, with Vince now on his knee, staring daggers at Beth, who was blissfully unaware of it, watching her little neice on the roundabout. Howard rocked Vince a bit more, until he had stop completely, and made to put him on the floor, but Vince clung on grimly, not wanting Howard to be left alone with her.

"Looks like he's really attached to you, huh?". Howard nodded, surprised as he looked down and saw Vince throwing Beth one of the filthiest looks he had ever seen on a three year old, his thumb back in his mouth, still clutching Howard. Vince frowned as his friend had launched into a discussion about jazz with Beth.

He sniffed miserably, and coughed. Howard at once looked apalled and looked apologetically at Beth,

"I think I should take him home. We've got a doctors appointment tomorrow". Beth smiled and nodded understandingly, She went to ruffle Vince's hair, but he pulled away, frowning. She looked surprised but smiled at Howard, who in turn looked down in surprise. Ok, Vince didn't like people touching his hair, but he was fine when anyone else was fussing him today.

He strapped Vince into the buggy and the toddler heard a small exchange and a russle of paper, as they presumably exchanged numbers, before he was hit by a wave of tiredness and dropped off to sleep.

As Howard was walking home, it only just hit him how much Vince hadn't liked Beth. The glare, and was it coincidense that he had fallen over and started crying _very _loudly as soon as they were about to kiss? With all of these thoughts buzzing around his head, he meandered down the street, enjoying the sunshine mixed with the frost, and smiled at the slight snuffling he heard from Vince, as he carefully manouvered the buggy up and down the side streets of Dalston.

**Woah! Did anyone notice all of the unintentional alliteration? Plus, I don't know anything about Dalston, for example, cobbles? Parks? Who knows...  
One more plus, I don't know why I'm mentioning it, but I was planning this at the same time I was doing a practice GCSE paper lol. You don't need to know about 'Of Mice And Men' as long as you can write fanfics I reckon ;)  
WOOOP! RUSSEL BRAND LIVE TONGIHT **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey ;) LOL- the receptionist is fashioned on my mother. Thanks for any reviews ;) Plus, sorry this took so long to post. I don't really have an excuse :s  
Disclaimer: All I own is the media coursework I should be doing instead of this :P**

Vince opened his eyes to see light pouring through the curtains, and condensation creeping down the windows. He looked down and found himself in his own bed, wearing the aqua baby suit thing that Howard had bought. _I don't remember getting home or in bed _Vince thought to himself, and looked across to the other bed. It was empty, but had definitely been slept in, so Vince relaxed a little. However, he tensed up straight away when he heard laughter coming from the living room. _Female _laughter. Vince scowled as he sat up in bed. He really didn't like Beth. He wasn't sure why to be honest. She just had this...this _aura _for want of a better word, and Vince just didn't trust her whatsoever.

He then remembered what day it was, providing he'd slept the whole night. He had a doctors appointment today. He shuddered and got a nervous feeling in his stomach. He really hated needles. Still, he would do his best to postpone it, he decided. He got his chance when he heard footsteps coming toward the bedroom. Quick as flash he lay back down and pulled the covers over himself. He closed his eyes and, on second thoughts, put his thumb in his mouth. Maybe Howard wouldn't want to disturb him if he looked so cute? He heard the door being opened and tried hard to breathe evenly.

"Awww!". That high pitched tone almost made Vince shudder, but he kept his eyes shut and his face neutral.

"What time did you say his appointment is?"

"10, but we need to register him, so we need to go a bit earlier," He heard Howard pause, "still, maybe we should leave him for a bit longer, look at him...". Vince managed to keep the triumphant grin off his face, but a second later felt angry as he heard _her _reply,

"Too much sleep is just as bad as too little". Vince could almost imagine her cocky little smile as she flashed her teeth at him. Howard folded, and Vince's heart sank as his friend walked over to his bed and gently lifted him up.

"C'mon little man, we need to get you up". He carefully lifted the whole of Vince's body, and pressed it close to him, as Vince was doing a very good 'shot by a tranquelizer' impression and was quite limp. Vince was about to pretend to wake up then, but he was just _so comfy _in Howard's arms, and snuggled into them making, almost little mewling sounds - like a kitten.

"Beth, do you want to come with us?" Vince held his breath.

"Eurgh, no. Sorry, doctors make me feel ill". She sounded so serious Vince was sure he cracked a rib from trying not to laugh.

"Well we should be getting ready". Vince felt Beth move closer to Howard, about to kiss him. He took this as his cue to 'wake up'. Making little whimpering noises, he opened his eyes and coughed. He smiled as they broke apart again.

"Hey little man, had a good sleep?" Vince nodded and smiled sleepily at Howard (_I should so become an actor _He thought to himself).

"Howa..." he paused, remembering Beth was in the room. Sighing, he changed what he was going to say, "Daddy?". Howard got a wave of nostalgia, but ignored it, because he knew exactly why Vince had called him that.

"Yeah?"

"I'm hungry". Howard nodded and looked apologetically at Beth and said,

"Well, we've got a lot to do so...". She nodded at him and smiled a sickeningly cheery smile at Vince.

"Have fun, honey". With that, she smiled at Howard (And Vince saw with some satisfaction she didn't try and kiss him again) and walked off. Vince waited until he heard her on the stairs and said.

"I don't like her". Howard looked at him with wide eyes.

"Why?"

"Well she's all over you isn't she? She's like that woman in that film, y'know, she's after your money!". Howard stared at him, confused.

"Vince, I haven't got any money!" Then a thought struck him, "Wait a second, you're jealous aren't you? That she likes me and not you!". Vince fixed him with a steely glare and said coldly,

"I'm not that shallow Howard, and besides, she does like me. She won't leave me alone. When was the last time she called _you _'honey'?". Howard was struck dumb and had nothing to reply to that. So he just changed the subject.

"Breakfast?". Vince nodded, both of them acting like it never happened. However, as Howard took Vince into the kitchen, the toddler was thinking hard.

_I'm not jealous of Howard. That woman is evil. Am I jealous of her? Howard spending all of his time with her. He was laughing and chatting with her for ages yesterday. When was the last time we did that? It's always bickering with us. I'm gonna try harder _He resolved _I'm gonna be nicer to him. He's done loads of stuff for me that I haven't even thanked him for._

"Hey Howard?". Howard looked up from where he had been cooking eggs,

"Thanks". Howard turned around, eyes wide.

"What for?". Vince shifted uncomfortably before answering,

"Well y'know, you haven't laughed at me yet, or called me stupid, and you bought me loads of clothes when we _could _have gone to Adams, and you've looked after me, and well... y'know, thanks".

Howard didn't know what to say. He was aware of Vince's rising red colour, flushing his cheeks.

"I...wow, er you're welcome. It's not often you dig deep into your heart like that".

"Oi! I know you usually think I'm really shallow, and I don't appreciate you and whatever, but I'm not really like that," He sighed, "You're supposed to be my best mate. And even you don't really understand me".

Howard bent down to where Vince was sat on the chair. Wordlessly, he picked him up and gave him a warm hug. The toddler was confused, but immediately fell into it, secretly loving how well Howard could hug once motivated. He nuzzled his forehead into the older man's neck and unconsiously made small snuffling noises that the other man picked up on and smiled. When they finally broke apart (Which was difficult seeing as one was literally holding the other), Howard said,

"I'm sorry little man. Maybe if you told me every once in a while how you felt, you could avoid all of that". Vince nodded meekly, then sniffed, wiping his nose on his arm. This reminded Howard of the day and he looked at the clock.

"Aw no! We need to go! We need to register you and everything!" He was saying this while turning the stove off, but leaving the eggs in the pan, "Go and get ready, I need to find that list Naboogave us!". Vince nodded again and went sadly down the corridor. Wriggling into his trousers and pulling on his new yellow top with the pink splatter on the front, he was shaking at the thought of a needle going _inside _him. And then injecting something into him. That was just disgusting. He almost burst into tears at the thought of it, but decided he had probably cried too much over the past few days, and really didn't want to make his face all patchy.

Slouching out of the room, he found Howard ready to go, reading through the list of things Naboo had given him.

"Wow, he's been really thorough. He's even given me your 'mum's' maiden name!" Vince smiled as Howard stuck it in his pocket.

"You better be able to act though. You don't come across as a person who's ever been married". As soon as he said that he literally bit his tongue. Just five minutes after saying he wasn't shallow, he'd just gone and done it again.

"Sorry Howard". The older man smiled and accepted his apology. As long as Vince was willing to work at it, he didn't mind. Maybe him changing had been a good thing. THeir relationship may turn out really well after all of this. After this, Howard rummaged in his pocket and read some of the things to Vince,

"Your name's Vince Moon, we used to live in a flat in Camden, your mum died after being hit by a car". Vince wrinkled his nose.

"You told that woman she died in childbirth!"

"That was on the spot though, I need to stick with what Naboo's said". Vince nodded, and was told several more chunks of his past before Howard was convinced he would remember it and they started out of the flat.

Only after getting in the van and starting it up did Howard realise he'd left the buggy in the shop. After voicing this to Vince, he was surprised at how little the toddler cared.

"Doesn't matter," He shrugged, "We're not going anywhere else are we?". Howard agreed with this. He was still rather wary though. Vince would undoubtedly get tired, what with the cold and all, and it would be better if he slept when he was tired, and the buggy was a good way of soothing him. If Howard had to carry him, he doubted that Vince would fall asleep in his arms.

Vince was thinking these same thoughts, but slightly differently. He knew he'd get tired, and he had to admit, he _did _find the buggy very comfy. But when Howard held him, it was just so much more comfortable. His arms were at exactly the right angle, he rocked just enough to make Vince feel somewhat safe and groggy, and whether he would admit it or not, Vince knew Howard liked it as well.

"Oh, by the way, I think I should test you on some of these things on the sheet". Howard said, waving it in Vince's face, "For example... what's your name?"

Quick as flash, Vince replied, "Vince Moon". Howard smiled and said,

"Where did we live last?"

"A flat in Camden".

The questions continued, and Howard was impressed at what Vince had remembered.

"One more thing, when's your birthday?"

"16th of..." Vince screwed up his face and Howard could see how hard he was trying.

"S..." Howard prompted and Vince's face lit up.

"September!". Howard grinned. Naboo had obviously used this as the birthday because that was literally the day he turned three.

"We're almost there. Just remember all that and we'll be fine". Vince grinned at him, but instantly got a picture of a needle swimming in his mind. His smile dropped and his mouth wobbled, his eyes threatening to break into tears. Howard was driving at this point, so he didn't notice.

As they drew closer to the surgery, Howard noticed that Vince was extremely quiet. He was presumably lost in his own thoughts, so Howard just said, gently,

"Vince, we're here". Vince nodded, not really paying attention, so Howard went round the other side of the van and opened the door, taking the toddler out and putting him on the floor.

"Come on then". They set off, Howard thanking the heavens that he had found a parking space close to the front door. As they got inside, Howard took hold of Vince's shoulders and propelled him towards the desk. A short, quite podgy woman, with glasses and cropped, ginger hair was at the desk. She looked middle-aged, and slightly harrassed, as if she'd had one too many children. Her name tag said 'Debbie'.

"Erm, hello, we've got an appointment at the baby clinic with Dr McCarty?" The woman nodded and said,

"Name?"

"Vince Moon". She typed it in and spoke again.

"There you are. Right, it says you need to register?"

Howard nodded and she smiled at him, took a form off the desk she was stood at and gave him a pen.

"The doctor will be with you in a minute. If you haven't finished it by then, just do it while you're in there". One more professional smile and she moved on to deal with the next patient. Howard walked over to the chairs in the waiting room and sat on one. Vince walked with him and completely bipassed the toys that were left out for any children there. He too went to sit on a chair, but found them quite high.

"Howard, I wanna see!" Howard pulled Vince up on the chair, quite surprised at how childish that last remark was. Still, he ignored this and continued with the forms.

"Crap" Vince looked up to see Howard screwing his face up in thought, "I can't remember the 'adress' of the flat we lived in".

"Look at the note". Howard went to do so, but stopped when he saw the doctor approaching them.

"Vince, distract her". He hissed. Vince nodded and slid off his chair. He tottered up to her and pretended to almost fall, so he put his hands on her knees and looked up and smiled. She smiled back and knelt down.

"Hello there, whats your name?"

"Vince"

"Ah, you're with me next with your...daddy?". Vince nodded, strangely not feeling weird referring to Howard as 'Daddy'. He gave her another smile and said,

"What's your name?". She beamed at him and ruffled his hair.

"I'm Dr McCarty, but you can call me Jean".

"Hello Jean!". She beamed even more and Vince relaxed. He wasn't sure how three year olds should talk, but apparently short, simple sentances were best. He looked over to see Howard finished and watching this little show, smiling slightly.

"Shall we go over to your daddy?" Vince nodded as he felt the woman gently take he shoulders and guide him over. _Yeah, 'cause I can't see the only person in the waiting room. _He thought, rolling his eyes, _What a douche bag!_

"Mr Moon?" The Doctor enquired, and Howard nodded and made a big show of welcoming Vince back and putting him on his knee.

"Would you like to come through?" Howard got up, taking Vince with him. The toddler was shaking, and Howard could definately feel it. He looked down, concerned, to see Vince looking absolutely terrified, and remembered what had happened the last time Vince had been confronted with a needle. He jumped Vince up so that he was sat straighter, and hugged him slightly.

"Don't worry little man, you'll be fine". Vince looked up to him and seemed comforted by this, so Howard set him down and watched him toddle to the room, trying to keep up with Dr McCarty.

The doctor's room was a boring shade of cream, at which Howard nodded approvingly, with children's pictures littering the walls and several wooden duck ornaments on various shelves and desks. Dr McCarty motioned to Howard to take the seat opposite her, which he accepted, and after a seconds think, Vince joined him, clambering up onto Howard's lap again.

"So, what's the problem with him then?" Howard looked at her. She was the one who accosted them in the supermarket and told them that Vince needed a flu jab.

"Er, he needs a flu jab. I think". The doctor nodded thoughtfully and at this moment, Vince helpfully sneezed, followed by a hacking cough, that got Howard worried, as it took a while to stop. Dr McCarty placed her hand on Vince's forehead and left it there a minute.

"Hmmm, he's quite warm," She straightened up and looked at Howard, "Yes, I think you're right. Of course, it won't cure his cold, but it will stop it developing into something much worse". Howard nodded and bobbed Vince up and down slightly as he had just seen Dr McCarty pull out a needle.

"It shouldn't hurt him" She explained to Howard, who was now trying to stop Vince wriggling right off his lap and running out of the door.

"Erm, can I just have a moment to calm him down?"

"Of course". Howard smiled at her and focused all of his attention on Vince, who was whimpering as the needle was still in plain sight. Howard picked him up so that his feet were just brushing the older man's knees, and turned him around, so that his head was nuzzling into Howard's chest. Howard then started brushing his hands through the toddler's hair and mumbling soothing words that the doctor didn't hear. After maybe, two minutes, she could swear that the boy had fallen asleep.

"You're really good at calming him down" She complimented Howard, and slowly rolled up Vince's sleeve. He started to fidget again, but Howard once again ran his fingers through the boy's hair. She quickly squirted some antiseptic on it and, looking at Howard for the all-clear, she stuck the needle in and injected the vaccine. Vince squeezed his eyes together and clutched at Howard's jacket. In an instant it was over and she smiled at Vince.

"Well done, you were such a good boy!" Vince smiled weakly at her, "Would you like a lolly?" She asked, making Vince smile properly. She took this as a yes and reached into a drawer in her desk and pulled out an orange lolly. Popping it in his mouth, Vince smiled up at Howard sleepily, so Howard said, apologetically,

"Well, if that's it, I'd better get him home..." She nodded and took the forms he had been holding.

"If there's anything else, feel free to pop by again". Howard nodded and went out of the room, having to hold Vince tighter than he would normally, given the fact that the boy was quickly slipping into a deep sleep.

"Well done Vince" He said softly, and got a nod, but that could have been Vince trying to nuzzle into him. Howard smiled and tugged the lolly out of his mouth.

"You might choke if you fall asleep" He said, in answer to the weak noise of protest that the toddler made. Vince merely snuggled closer, enjoying the warmth and security that his friend offered. Howard just accepted this and walking out of the surgery, checking that Vince was asleep before hugging him tightly and walking out into the carpark.

**That took me ages considering it was the only chapter I had planned lol. Seriously after this I have no plan whatsoever. If anyone's got any ideas they are welcome to tell me ;) Plus, I know little kids don't get flu jabs, so just humor me M'kay? Reviews are extremely welcomed :) BTW If anyone wants to message me, don't. Emails gone spazzy :( Just add it into your review ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Once again, cheers for so many reviews! And you can P.M me again (Not that you would have wanted to anyway lol) cause the emails back Yay!  
Some of this chapter is credit of Stars of Andromeda cause I had no plan after last chapter and she just sparked my mind cogs again ;)  
By the way!! Alot of you have been asking me this, so just to clarify: THIS WILL NOT BE HOWINCE! Everything will become clear near the end (Or so I hope)  
One more thing, I've put in this that the kitchen is a completely different room to the living room. I know it isn't, it just works with the story ok?  
Disclaimer: Isn't it obvious?**

Vince's head drooped to one side as Howard closed the door of the shop, trying to balance his friend at the same time. Once again, he laid Vince down on the sofa, and made a cup of tea. Smiling as the toddler stuck his thumb in his mouth, Howard reached for the phone and, after a moments hesitation, called Beth's number.

_Hello?" _She answered, breathlessly.

"Hi Beth, it's Howard. I just wondered if you fancied coming over? We're back from the doctors".

_"Awww, is he ok?"_

"Apart from a lot of fuss when it came to a needle yes, he's fine"

_"Aww bless. How about I bring Rosie over? It could be fun for them". _Howard considered this for a second. He didn't really think it would be fun for Vince, who wasn't exactly your average three year old, as he probably wouldn't enjoy meeting 'other' toddlers.

"Er yeah I suppose so, come round!"

_"Great! I'll be there in about 10 minutes!" _She rang off, and Howard turned to Vince, and was surprised to see he was awake and glaring at Howard.

"Why is _she _coming round?". Howard moaned and put his head in his hands.

"Because we get on really well, and she's going to bring her little neice for you to play with" He snickered as Vince got an appalled look on his face.

"Aw come on Howard! She'd end up sitting on me or something! Plus," He added, getting a disdainful look on his features, "while I'm with her, you'll be doing some 'playing' of your own". Howard blushed, and opened his mouth to retaliate, but nothing came out. Vince had a triumphant smile on his face.

"Don't think I'm going to play with her! And don't expect me to smile when that woman's cooing or fluffing my hair or something" Howard suddenly got incredibly angry and lashed out,

"What's your problem with her?! I didn't really believe you when you said you weren't jealous you know!". Vince gave him a filthy look and shuffled over, so he was completely ignoring his friend. Howard sighed, his anger vanishing.

"Vince.." He began, but there was a knock on the door, at which he let out a much too eager,

"That's her!". Vince made a noise that sounded like a sob, but Howard was halfway down the stairs by that point. Hearing much too friendly hello's, Vince ground his teeth. He would just give her the worst look she had ever seen, and if it got too much, he could always fall back on two things, 1) If she came too close to him and Howard couldn't see, he would just start crying and blame her or 2) bite her if she came too close. He liked the second one better, but the first would make Howard pay more attention to _him. _

_She _came up the stairs with Rosie in her arms, but put her down quickly (And Vince couldn't blame her, the child looked about five, and quite a big five year old at that) and came over to Vince.

"Hiya sweetie! I hear you've been to the doctors! How did my little star do?" True to his thoughts, he gave her a huge glare and pulled away sharpish as she went to comb his hair back. Wriggling away, he yelled

"No!" Just as Howard was coming up the stairs.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking from Beth to Vince anxiously.

"I don't know Howard, he's just a bit grumpy is all". Howard could swear that sparks would start coming out of Vince's eyes in a second, but he just ignored him and said,

"Tea?" To Beth, who nodded and smiled, before turning her attention on Vince, now deciding to ignore both adults.

"Hey Vince? Do you want to play with Rosie?" Not getting a response, she turned to Howard for help, who just rolled his eyes and picked Vince up, before depositing him on the floor, next to Rosie. Vince was still angry, incredibly angry, but as Rosie came closer to him, looking like bus near a bicycle, he couldn't help give Howard a slightly worried expression.

"Erm, why don't we give them something to do? Er, drawing?" Howard walked swiftly over to a cupboard and pulled out loads of plain paper and some felt tip pens. He stuck them on the floor next to Vince, who smiled at him forgivingly, so Howard in turn smiled apologetically back. He went to sit on the sofa, completely aware that Vince was edging away from the girl who was taking up alot of room, as she grabbed for the paper and pens.

"I think they're getting on like a house on fire!" Beth trilled, missing the worried looked that flared on Howard's face for a second, as Rosie was waving her pen around, very nearly hitting Vince in the eye with it.

Beth managed to get Howard into a very long, boring conversation about jazz, which made Vince want to commit suicide, but he was still listening in, as he did random squiggles on his peice of paper. He took a quick glance over at Rosie's picture, which was neater than his by far. Cursing her, he drew a line right over it when she wasn't looking. He grinned evily and continued to listen in to Howard and Beth's conversation. There wasn't much talk at all. He looked round to see them looking into each other's eyes.

He frowned. He wasn't having this. Picking up his picture, he got up as quickly as possible and shoved it in Beth's face, breaking up another almost-kiss.

"Look!" He trilled happily, and as he was stood there, Beth doing the whole 'Oh look at the pretty picture' thing, Rosie seemed to realise that there was a thick, black line through her picture. She took one look and let out a massive wail. Quick as a flash, Beth got up and picked up her neice (_That must have taken some doing _thought Vince).

"What's wrong Rosie?" The girl flapped her hand at her picture,

"Oh, have you done something wrong?" Then, to Howard and Vince's surprise, Rosie turned to Vince and said

"He did it!" Then started wailing again. Vince couldn't help smirking at how upset she was, but Beth saw this and flared up.

"Oh Vince, how could you? Now that's not nice". Vince shook his head and said in the cutest voice he could think of,

"I didn't do it!" Beth shook her head and quietened Rosie down, but continued to take a glance at Vince every five minutes or so, as if extremely suspicious of him. _Well she did have every right to be _thought Howard, who had also seen Vince smirking, but he couldn't help feeling amused at what Vince did. It was _so_ like him to ruin someone else's work if theirs was better.

Vince was quite subdued as Beth encouraged them to draw again, and Howard noticed he didn't even do anything when Rosie, deciding it was time for some payback, squiggled a huge purple line down Vince's picture.

"Erm, Vince do you want a drink? In the kitchen?" Howard nodded towards the kitchen and Vince, seeing what he wanted, nodded and pulled himself up so that he was now the same height as Rosie (And she was sat down). They walked over to the kitchen and shut the door.

"Are you ok Vince? I'm sorry I said those things, but you do have a problem with Beth".

"I just don't like her Howard. And I'm fine, I'm just a bit tired"

"Do you want to go to bed?" Vince shook his head defiantely. They were interrupted by Beth walking through the door.

"I think Rosie's missing you Vince" She flashed a smile at Vince, and made a small pulling gesture on his shoulders, getting him half way out of the door. He looked at Howard, who nodded. Vince sighed. It was inevitable that they would kiss, even if he stayed to push them away. He walked sadly out of the room and was met with a glare as Rosie was now stood up (And Vince gulped at the size of her).

"Why did you draw on my picture?!"

"I er... I was drunk?" Rosie towered over him, and Vince was reminded of when he was pinned up against a wall by two angry electro girls. He changed tactics, and turned on some of the old Noir charm,

"Listen Rosie, hows about you_ don't_ beat me to a pulp, and we can maybe go get a drink or something?" He brushed some of her hair off her shoulders. This was a mistake. The violent little girl grabbed hold of his arm and Vince was sure they would break, when at the last minute she let go and pushed him right over. Hitting his head extremely hard on the floor, he started howling, but Rosie wasn't finished with him yet. While he was on his back, she took a fistful of his hair and started to pull his head up and down, whacking his head off the floor each time.

Howard and Beth rushed in, persumably after hearing the shrieks from both toddlers, and Howard, looking horrified, rushed in and none too gently pushed Rosie off. He only realized too late, as Beth gasped in shock and anger as her neice fell to the floor. Howard opened his mouth to say something, but what he had planned would sound crazy,

_Sorry, I'm just used to having a 25 year old toddler in the flat. I didn't think it would matter_

Still not quite sure what to say, he was saved from having to say anything when Vince continued to sob into Howard's jumper, drawing great breaths as he rubbed his head in pain. Howard glared at Rosie as he hugged Vince and kissed his head where he had been hit, without meaning to, but it was too late to go back.

"What did you do that for?!" Howard yelled at Rosie, who cowered slightly.

"Howard!" Beth was shocked, and even more so when he shouted,

"What? Your neice is a horrible little person! Vince didn't even do anything!". Beth flared up, and was probably going to say something back, but Vince opened his mouth and, in between gasps, said,

"Yeah! And, you really don't suit that top. What were you thinking? Chalk pink is like, so last Summer". Howard almost laughed at Beth's face. She went right up to Vince's face and bared her teeth.

"You are a horrible, horrible little boy, and I can't believe I even _pretended _to like you". Managing to get tears dribbling from Vince's eyes, she turned to Howard,

"And as for _you! _I can't believe I actually _did _like you!" With that she stormed out, taking Rosie with her, "And don't even _attempt _to call!" The boys could hear her heels stabbing the stairs as she stomped down and out of the shop.

Howard let out a shaky breath and looked at Vince. He was surprised to see the tears had vanished from his face.

"Are you ok?" Vince looked up at him and grinned,

"Yeah! I just turned on the waterworks so she'd feel sorry for me, maybe make her stay, for you". Howrd was so touched he couldn't speak, he bent down and hugged Vince properly, wrapping his arms right around him and squeezing gently.

"Thank you Vince. Mind you I didn't think she was like that" Vince grinned coyly

"I _told _you! You have to listen to my opinion on any woman you like from now on, ok?" Howard nodded and laughed slightly.

"Its a deal"

--

"Hey Howard". They were both sprawled on the floor by this point, Vince persuading Howard that drinking was the best way to mend a broken heart. However, Howard had only drank about two bottles, and was refusing Vince anything.

"Can I have some now? Please! Come on, I drink more than you on a daily basis!". Howard agreed with that, but stated firmly,

"No. Sorry, but I don't think it's very good parenting to let a three year old drink alcohol". They were both silent, as what Howard had just said sunk in.

_Did he just say 'good parenting'? Does he feel like he's my parent or something? I mean, maybe I should ease off on the hugs, am I being too needy? It's just, he's so comfy, and it's not often I get hugs off him anyways. Plus, what does it matter if I have the _body _of a three year old. It won't affect whatever bit of me that drinks alcohol, I mean, I could definately use a flirtini, or even just some WKD, or maybe just a beer. Mind you, I could have..._

_Did I just say 'good parenting'? I mean, fair enough, he's relying on me a bit more, and he does want quite a lot of hugs, but it's only natural, I mean, he didn't get much affection when he _was _three did he? Anyway, soon Naboo'll be back, and hopefully, I'll never have to worry about any of this stuff again..._

"Come on Howard!" Vince was at it again, wheedling for all his worth.

"Last time Vince, no means no. Now I'm going to the toilet. Here, you can watch the telly if you want". He threw the remote to Vince, who nodded glumly and waited until the toilet door was firmly closed. He grabbed a bottle of Stella that Howard had just opened and upped the bottle, drinking nearly half of it, before hiccuping slightly as some went down the wrong way. Choking, he stood the bottle back up, but his fingers somehow misjudged the distance and he let it topple to the floor, making it smash and the alcohol leach into the carpet. _Oops, _Vince thought _Howard's gonna be maaadddd. _He started giggling for no reason, and jumped as the bathroom door swung open and Howard rushed out.

"What was that smash?" His eyebrows flew upwards as he took in the scene. A toddler rolling about, laughing hysterically, while there lay a smashed beer bottle on the floor, taht had far less leaking out than it was supposed to.

"Vince, did you drink some beer?" He asked it with a serious face, so Vince stopped laughing so much (_Maybe he's putting it on a bit, _thought Howard)

"Only a bit, Howard, _you _do. I want to. I don't want to be left out!". Howard shook his head, not angry more, annoyed. Mostly at himself, for leaving beer bottles lying around, when he knew Vince wanted some. Plus, how would half a bottle affect him? He had a child's body, which included a child's liver, and child reactions. Meaning he would get absolutley hammered from just one bottle.

"Vince, you shouldn't have had one, your body can't handle it". Vince pouted and started jumping around,

"But I wanted some!"

"Maybe, you should go to bed"

"No!". Howard sighed. Last time (Well, when he was acting like a three year old) he had to be bribed into bed by a story. Would that work now?...

"Vince?" Vince looked up from where he had been laughing hysterically at some hospital programme on TV.

"Do you want me to... to read you a story?" He blushed bright red, but Vince seemed to be considering it. Pursing his lips, he finally said,

"Yeah alright" They walked to their bedroom. Vince sticking two legs down his panda pyjama bottoms before Howard gave in and helped him. The boy was still bouncing as Howard put him in the bed, but he was pleased to see he had to work hard to keep bouncing, and he looked shattered.

Howard got out 'Peace at last', a) Because that was the only children's book they had, and b) He had like it last time.

"Mr Bear was tired, Mrs Bear was tired, and Baby Bear was tired..." Howard looked up at the sound of a sigh, and saw that Vince had already conked out, snuggling into the duvet as Howard smiled, but he was feeling quite lonely now, so he decided to keep reading, just to see what happened at the end.

**I didn't really like this chapter for some reason :s Sorry if the way he acted drunk was well off, I'm tired ;) Plus, has Howard ever gotten to the end of that book with Vince? Cause I can't be bothered looking back to check. One more thing, Secret Policeman's Ball on Channel 4, Sunday 9pm. Are the Boosh on this year? Anyone? I love reviews **


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks again for all the reviews folks ;) I honestly don't have a plot for this, which means I don't know when the next chapter will be up, so you'll have to wait until I get a stroke of inspiration :) Sorry it took so long to put up, but I am sooo lazy right now, it's unbelievable! You might be happy to know though, that I'm putting more effort into this than my Vietnam coursework ;) Hopefully (I'm writing this before the actually writing this before the chapter) this chap should explain quite a few things :)  
Disclaimer: I own a huge nothing.**

Vince woke up the next morning, and the first thing he did was turn to look at Howard's bed. Doing this, his head suddenly exploded, from what used to be a dull pain was now an all-out migraine. Whimpering, he slowly got up. Not a novice of hangovers, he wasn't surprised that all he could remember was drinking, and knew that if he didn't get to the toilet soon, well, Howard would have to get his wipes out again.

"Howard..." He mumbled, and heard a low breathing coming from the bed opposite. He tried again, growing more aware of the fact that he felt he was going to be sick any minute.

"Howard.." He made this one louder, more desperate, and was relieved that Howard grunted slightly and blearily opened his eyes. He sat up when he saw how green Vince looked, and got out of bed sharpish.

"You feeling sick?" Vince nodded,

"Very". Without hesitation, Howard picked him up and bore him to the bathroom, trying extremely hard not to bounce, which he had been doing increasingly of late, as whenever he held Vince, it was to comfort him. He got him to the toilet in time, and pulled the tufty brown/blonde hair out of the way. Rubbing his back, Howard waited until he was sure Vince was finished before pulling him up and saying,

"See, this is why toddlers shouldn't drink"

"Bugger off," Vince mumbled weakly, "I would have been like this anyway". He wandered over to the bathroom cabinet and hopped up onto the little stool that Howard had provided. Unscrewing the toothpaste tube, he squeezed a load on his brush and set to work on a frenzied attack on any acid on his teeth and pulled a face when Howard turned on the overhead light.

"Jesus Howard, d'you wanna blind me?!" Howard lifted an eyebrow and turned it back off.

"You brought this on yourself little man". Vince's face crumpled, as if he'd just had a sudden moment of realisation, and he pulled his toothbrush out of his mouth and faced Howard,

"I'm sorry," This sounded completely sincere, "I know I shouldn't have, but _you _were, and I was angry. I should have listened to you". He looked down, toothpaste all over his mouth, some drips threatening to fall onto his top. Smiling, Howard went to wipe them away. He was stopped by Vince throwing his arms around the older man's waist.

"Thanks Howard"

"What for?" Howard asked, confused.

"Holding my hair back, not caring that I kinda scared Beth away, thanks". Howard nodded and hugged back hard. However, he pulled back suddenly, leaving Vince looking confused and slightly hurt.

"Sorry little man, but you're getting toothpaste all over me" He indicated the white foam around Vince's mouth, who blushed and nodded, wiping it away with a towel. Finished, he squeezed his eyes shut for a second,

"God, I've got a blinder". Howard nodded,

"Stay there" and walked to the kitchen. He opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a children's nurofen. _A sachet will have to do_ Howard thought, and headed back to Vince, who was looking pale and pained.

"Take this" He passed the sachet to Vince, who swallowed it in one and winced.

"Urgh, that is disgustin'"

"It's got to be done Vince,". However, he gave him a sympathetic smile and patted him on the head, "Do you want a drink?" Vince smiled cutely and nodded. Howard picked him up and carried him to the kitchen.

_Wait, why am I carrying him? Surely he can walk himself. God I'm getting over attached, I'm thinking of him like he's my son. I just need to treat like I did before any of this even happened. He's just a little bo... tit-box, remember?_

He had just gotten Vince a glass of water when the phone rang, peircing the silence. Vince looked up at Howard, curious, with the cup still up at his face like he was drinking, and his legs swinging off the chair. Howard picked the phone up.

"Hello?"

_"Hey Howard, it's Naboo. We _might _have found the cure, but it's really hard to make, and it has to involve both you and Vince"_

"What?! And what do you mean, _might _have found one?"

_"Calm down Howard, would you both just be able to come?"_

"How do you suggest we do that Naboo? By boat? Horse? Chair-lift?". He could picture Naboo frowning and could tell his patience was waning, "Sorry, but seriously, how will we get there?"

_"I can come and pick you up on the carpet in about... half an hour". _

"Ok Naboo, we'll see you then". He hung up and walked back to where Vince was sat, his eyes wide in anticipation.

"What did he say?" Howard smiled at him and replied,

"He might have found a cure, he's coming in about half an hour". Vince's face changed slightly, but before Howard knew it, he was grinning so much that his whole face was taken up by this giant smile. He ran over to Howard, regardless of hangover, and jumped up to him, wrapping arms and legs around him, stuffing his face in the older man's stomach. Howard looked down and smiled, hugging back.

"Soon be back to normal". As he said that, he almost felt Vince's smile drop. The boy looked up at him with beautiful blue eyes (That Howard saw with a guilty jolt were tinged with yellow) that were eminating sadness.

"What's wrong?" Vince crinkled his lips slightly and looked down. "Vince," The toddler looked up at the gentle tone, "Tell me".

"I'mkindagonnamissthis,notlikey'know,theshortnessandall,but..." Howard bounced him a bit, now holding him fully,

"Vince, breathe and start again". He looked up, bright red.

"I think I'm gonna miss this" Howard stared at him with huge eyes, "Not like, the whole body thing!" He went on hurriedly, "Well, actually, kind of, 'cause we won't be able to anything like this anymore".

"Vince, I... what?"

"I mean," Vince was clearly struggling, but took a deep breath and began, "I like having more time with you, and to be honest, I really like getting hugs of you," He blushed as Howard looked amazed, and sped on, "And I didn't like Beth, 'cause I was jealous. She was taking all your time up, and I wanted to spend time with you. It's like you've been more than a friend to me, almost like a dad, I mean, not that you look like my dad...I mean..." Howard was so touched, he didn't know what to say. Instead, he hugged Vince some more, and finally managed to regain the ability to speak.

"Vince, thanks, and, to be honest, _I _felt like a dad to you. And it was quite nice. But you do know you can get hugs whenever right?"

"Not really, 'cause I feel like I annoy you when I become kinda, _clingy, _and you might have thought it was gay. And hugs like this are the best. It's kind of like a full body hug, y'know?" Howard understood perfectly and smiled.

"Well make the most of it because Naboo might have found a cure". He said it jokingly, but wasn't really surprised when Vince snuggled into him and snuffled slightly.

"How do you feel?"

"Hungover". Howard chuckled and walked over to the sofa, sitting carefully so Vince was still wrapped around him but was now on his lap. He leapt up a moment later, making Vince roll off the sofa with a squawk of protest.

"What was that for?!" He watched as Howard walked swiftly over to their bedroom and grabbed a bag on the way.

"If it does work, you'll need a change of clothes, it's much easier to keep the clothes you were originally wearing if you're shrinking". Vince nodded and clambered down off the sofa. He toddled over to the bedroom to direct Howard to his best clothes.

"That blue top there...no over on the left! Yeah, and _those_ trousers, and maybe that belt?" He thought for a moment before changing his mind, "Actually, leave the belt, bring the straighteners". Howard looked up astounded,

"Vince, we'll be in the middle of a forest! Where would you plug it in?" Vince shrugged and mumbled to himself that he needed some battery powered ones. Shaking his head, Howard finished dumping the things that Vince forgot (E.g. Underwear and socks) into the bag.

"Wait! Did you remember my boots?" Howard nodded and showed the white cowboy boots he had shoved in there to Vince.

"All done, now we just need to wait for Naboo". He looked down to see Vince having an internal battle with himself. He could see the boy thinking hard and biting his lip, looking like he was going to ask for something extremely embarrasing.

"Howard?..."

"Yes?" Howard answered, knowing something possibly embarrasing was coming.

"Y'know last night?" He nodded, "I can't really remember much, but you put me in bed, and then started reading..." Howard blushed a deep scarlet colour, remembering asking VInce if he wanted to be read to. Of course Vince had only agreed because he was drunk. Howard shut his eyes for a second, he was going to get yelled at. He could just picture it now, _"You had no right to treat me like that!" "I might look like a toddler, but I don't need to be treat like one!"._

"Howard?" He opened his eyes and saw Vince looking up, slightly pink in the face himself

"Yeah?"

"D'you think you could, maybe... I wanna know what happens in the end of the book". Howard was so surprised he almost passed out. Was Vince, stone cold sober, asking Howard to read him a story?

"Erm, yeah, o...ok, er, where's the book?" Vince shrugged,

"You were the one who was reading it". Howard nodded and smiled slightly. He rootled around for a bit before finding it.

"Ok, hop up" VInce looked at him with an eyebrow raised, "Oh yeah" Howard mumbled and picked him up, plonking him next to himself. He opened the book and was about to start when Vince said,

"Wait a second". He looked around his bed for a second before finding a small... Howard's eyebrows zoomed up his forehead, was that a _stuffed toy?_

"Vince, since when have you had a," He paused for a second before working out what it was, "toy meerkat?" He blushed but kept looking at Howard,

"Have you ever seen a programme called 'Meerkat Manor?'" Howard nodded, "It's genius isn't it! So I thought I'd get my own. This is Mitch". He then bit his lip and said, "He's really soft, and sometimes, helps me sleep, but I have to hide him, cause you would have made fun of me". Howard patted him on the arm,

"Vince, don't worry ok? I won't make fun of you". Vince nodded and smiled, rested Mitch on his lap and nodded Howard on.

"Mr Bear..."

"Wait a sec". Vince was craning his neck to see, so he just hopped up onto Howard's lap and said, "Ok, go". He settled himself against the older man and looked at him expectantly.

Howard started again, and was halfway through it when he noticed that Vince had his thumb in his mouth, was cuddling Mitch and had a glazed look over his face. Howard was about to ask him if he was tired, but was stopped when someone opened the door.

"Naboo?!" This jolted Vince awake, and Howard was sure he would whip his thumb out of his mouth, but to his surprised he stayed how he was, still cuddling Mitch and looked up at Naboo with a hazy grin.

"Alright?" Naboo nodded, his eyes wide at the cute scene, but shook his head and said

"Come on, we _think _this'll work" Howard looked down to see if Vince would have a little hissy, but he was just sat there, wiggling his feet a bit. Howard stood up, and asked Naboo to get the bag with clothes, and to meet them at the carpet. When Naboo left, he said,

"D'you want to leave him behind?" Vince shook his head solidly and gripped onto Howard a little tighter as he stood up and took Vince outside.

--

They were pounded by the Winter wind, and Howard clutched at Vince, who in turn was clutching at Mitch. Naboo sat on the carpet, completely at ease, not bothered by the cold at all.

"Come on! It's warmer at the forest". Howard just shrugged and placed Vince on Naboo's lap for a second as he got up. Naboo looked terrified at having to hold a small child, but looked down and saw how relaxed Vince was, and couldn't help smiling as the toddler started hugging the toy he had with him. Once Howard was on, Vince got off Naboo's lap and made his way over to the older man. Picking him up and holding him tightly. Howard said,

"Ok Naboo, lets go". Naboo nodded and took off extremely smoothly, hoping that Vince was holding his meerkat _very _tightly, because the winds could easily knock it out of his hands, and even though he was really 25, Naboo bet that it would set him off, and the last thing he needed was a screaming child all the way to the forest.

**Little question: Should the potion work? I mean like, it might take them a few days to make a different one, or should it work first time? Up to you reviewers ;) Answer in reviews, P.Ms, carrier pigeons whatever ;)  
Anyone who hasn't seen Meerkat Manor needs to. It really is genius but sad in quite a few bits :( But Mitch is the dominat male of the main group of meerkats, in case anyone wanted to know. Hopefully, that big heart to heart they had straightened a few things out. Hopefully. Reviews please!! Also, sorry it's quite short, it seemed really long when I was writing it for some reason :s**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ta for reviews ;) I love you all! Hope this is cute enough for you all, I'd hate to disappoint :) Plus, sorry it's a bit short, I tried to make it longer, but it wasn't happening  
Disclaimer: D'you really think I'd just be writing fanfics if I owned them?**

The winds whizzing around the carpet felt like they were going at more than 100 miles an hour. Howard clung onto Vince who was clinging back, his eyes streaming as the winds rushed over his face.

"How much further Naboo?!" Howard screamed, aware that the shaman probably didn't hear him. However, he turned around,

"Only a few more minutes, but it could be a bit longer, depending on traffic". Howard rolled his eyes, and brought his attention to Vince, his tiny hands clinging onto his toy meerkat, which was slowly slipping out of his reach. Howard put his hand over it and held on as well. Vince gave him a small smile, but had his eyes closed most of the way. Whether it was because of the wind or he didn't like heights, Howard didn't know, but he still kept a tight hold on his friend as they were speeding down the 'motorway'.

"We're coming down now!" Naboo yelled, and Howard could indeed tell that they were losing altitude. Before he knew it, they had landed in a dense forest, hemmed in with trees. Howard stood up (Naboo had landed fully) and tried to shake Vince off him, who was wobbling slightly as he stood, his hair windswept and his fingers were white from clutching at Mitch. Howard gave up and simply picked the toddler up, who breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed, his grip on the meerkat loosening slightly.

Naboo led them to the table where the board of shaman were sat. As they approached, they all (Except Tony Harrison) sat up a little starighter, and Dennis, the head shaman, started talking,

"Well Naboo, is this the one? The one we have been working hard for these past few days?" He gave Vince a critical look, and Saboo mumbled sarcastically,

"No Dennis, Naboo just thought he'd bring his small nephew round for us all to coo at"

"You plum Dennis!" Tony joined in.

"That's enough!" Dennis quietened them, "So Naboo, this is Vince?" Naboo nodded and Vince waved shyly. The green shaman-lady that Howard only knew by sight smiled and 'awwed' under her breath.

"Have you briefed them on what needs to be done?" After a quick glance at them, Naboo shook his head, "Excellent". Howard looked around them uncomfortably and found them looking back, as if he was on display. Vince was grizzling slightly, so he joggled him a bit until the toddler had quietened down and said,

"What do you need to do?". The head shaman smiled at him,

"Nothing overly painful". Saboo rolled his eyes,

"_Nothing overly painful_? How dramatic is that? You do realise that it wasn't going to painful, and even if it was, you just ruined the master plan?"

"Master plan?" Howard repeated, very wary by now.

"Nothing to worry about," Dennis said, attempting a warm voice, that made both Howard and Vince reel back, "Now put the boy on the floor and step back". Howard did so, but gave Vince a reassuring pat on the shoulder, as he looked absolutely petrified.

"Perfect. Now whatever happens, _don't go near him. _Understand?" Howard was about to protest when he saw Naboo giving him a _look. _He sighed and nodded. The head shaman gave Kirk a nod, who in turn nodded back. He got up and walked over to Vince, who was holding Mitch in a protective fashion, his eyes wide and lips trembling slightly. The small shaman got right up close to Vince and suddenly just pushed him over.

Naboo heard both Howard and Vince gasp as the toddler fell down, his toy meerkat spiralling out his hands and then being stood on, almost _jumped _on by Kirk. This was too much for Vince, who burst into tears, which could also have derived from the pain of falling over. Wasting no time, Howard went over and picked Vince up and sat cross-legged on the floor so that Vince was sat in his lap. He rocked him and stroked his hair, making 'shhing' sounds in his ears. Vince soon stoped, but as soon as he saw the meerkat being given an extra beating by Kirk, he dissolved into fresh, noisy sobs.

Howard (Who was within prodding distance) pushed Kirk away and picked Mitch up. It wasn't _too _bad, you could tell he'd been stamped on, so Howard dusted him down and handed him back to his friend. Vince gladly took it, and hugged it hard, before hugging Howard just as hard

"Thanks" He mumbled into Howard's shirt. Howard smiled and rocked him, not noticing the smiles on the shaman's faces. Naboo stepped forward and cleared his throat,

"Can we do it now?" He asked, and Howard looked up, amazed that Naboo wasn't going to say anything about what just happened.

"Yes Naboo," Dennis turned to Howard, "You went to him, even though we said not to, you are brave, and as such, we can help your friend"

"What?"

"He said that you just showed that the potion might work" Saboo said.

"Oh," Howard was extremely confused, "How?" Naboo stepped in,

"The potion we found can only work on someone who has somebody who loves them unconditonally, no matter what. Like a parent almost". Howard nodded, understanding perfectly, but blushing as Vince smiled up at him.

"Ok, we're ready. Bollo?" Howard jumped as the gorilla stepped up behind them.

"Bollo! We didn't see you before!" Bollo shrugged and gave Vince a guilty smile, probably aware that Vince was told everything was his fault. As if on cue, Vince struggled from Howard's grip and tried to reach Bollo,

"You little, ugh, bugger! Why'd you not read, argh, the small print?!" Howard wasn't really having a tough time holding his friend back, but the look on Bollo's face was too scared to reisist. Howard pretended to drop Vince, who ran at Bollo and flung himself at the hairy body. He started flailing his arms wildly, and Howard laughed out loud when he saw Bollo simply pick Vince up and hold him at arms length. Vince's angry look dropped off his face slowly,

"You have really soft fur Bollo". The gorilla looked relieved and said,

"Bollo use Herbal Essences, and Garnier". Vince nodded, and looked to be storing that information in his mind. Bollo took a chance and moved Vince a bit closer, presumably scared of dropping him. Seeing no violent reaction, Bollo moved Vince closer, now holding him as Howard did. Vince fell into the warm, soft fur, and, hugging Mitch, found himself relaxing. Not caring who was there, his thumb found it's way to his mouth and he was almost aware of the 'awwing' that issued from the assembled shaman, but was now floating towards sleep. However, (But only Howard, and possibly Naboo noticed this) he wasn't _as _comfortable as he would have been if it had been Howard holding him. It didn't make him so comfortable that he was oblivious to other things, and he certainly didn't look as happy as he had when Howard had been reading a story to him.

"Ewww, if only Mrs Harrison was 'ere! Then she'd agree to 'avin loads of little Harrisons!" Howard smiled, bizzarely proud of Vince, glad that the whole of the shaman council thought he was cute.

"I wonder why she didn't before" Saboo remarked, sarcastically.

"Listen pal, me an' the wife have a varied and fruitful sex life, an' she was worried that kids would mess it up. Apart from that, she'd love to 'ave little Tonys runnin' around the place"

"Running, how would they run Tony?! If they inherited your cleft-like figure, they wouldn't be..."

"That's enough!" Dennis interrupted, "Now, to measure out precisley how much of the ingredients we need, we need to measure and weigh the boy". Vince was now fully asleep, and Bollo placed him gently on the baby scales that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Scales read 22 pounds" Bollo read, and they all looked toward the green shaman-lady (So Howard guessed she had children of her own)

"It's a bit on the light side," She admitted, "In all the books it says the smallest weight should be about 25 pounds". Howard sighed. He knew Vince had looked thin. _"Whatever happens, when we get back I'm going to make a huge shephards pie._

Bollo now laid the toddler on the floor, so that he was stretched out fully. He kept wanting to roll over and curl up, making Bollo look up, at a loss. Howard went forward and slid his hands through Vince's hair, stroking it and calming him so that he stayed vertical, making small snuffly noises, Bollo now took out a tape measure and after quickly marking it, he declared,

"28 inches". Again, everyone looked over at the green shaman-lady,

"He's very small for his age, er... I mean body. The smallest should be about 34 inches". Kirk appeared to be taking notes on this, and Howard was wondering why, until the small shaman piped up,

"Ok, we need 6 cups of _that_" He said, motioning towards a glowing red bottle, "3 cups of _that_" Now pointing at a small, dark green bottle, "And 50 grams of _that_" Finally pointing to a jar that had a pale blue powder in it. The shamen all gathered around the various bottles, while Howard edged towards Naboo, who hadn't bothered going forwards to help and was glancing around, as if faintly bored by the proceedings.

"Naboo" The shaman looked round to see Howard, now holding Vince (Who was still asleep), "What's going to happen if it doesn't work?"

Naboo shrugged, but said, "I'm going to guess that we'll probably find another one, but don't worry, we'll find one". Howard still looked extremely unsure, so Naboo carried on, "Listen to some words of wisdom from Naboo..." Howard rolled his eyes,

"No offence Naboo, but I'm not in the mood for any words of wisdom at the moment ok? My best friend might be about to stay in a toddler's body for the rest of his life. I don't need to hear any stories about peacocks, pencils or slippers ok?" As soon as he said this he regretted it, but Naboo still had a calm expression on his face (_Although he might just be stoned_ Howard thought),

"You know Howard, after seeing you two, you'd think neither of you would particularly mind if the potion wouldn't work." Howard looked at him aghast, but Naboo said, "Admit it, you look on him like a son and you _love _looking after him. And I bet he likes all the attention he's been getting". Howard was nodding, thinking hard. He didn't want to admit it to Naboo, but he agreed with everything he had just said. However, maybe if he _did_ admit it, Naboo might do something to the potion, prolonging its effects?... He shook his head instantly. No. However much he loved Vince like this, the boy needed his life back.

Naboo watched Howard thinking and slipped away, going completely unnoticed by the brooding man and the sleeping child in his arms. He wandered over to where the potion was brewing, and whispered into the crowd of shamen, who all nodded thoughtfully and whispered amongst themselves. Naboo turned and saw Howard looking bemusedly at Bollo, who now had Vince in his arms (He had woken up), and was having his soft fur tugged slightly. _He's almost like a real child _Naboo thought _They tend to pull on cat's tails and things_. However, the gorilla looked to be enjoying holding the toddler, smiling and chuckling as Vince pulled at the fur tiredly.

Naboo went over to where they were stood and picked up Mitch off the floor. He passed it wordlessly to Howard, who, after smoothing it as much as possible, gave it to Vince, who leant back in the gorilla's arms and held the meerkat loosely.

"No you cleft! It says _anti-clockwise! _Not clockwise!"

"Look, it's hard to read the book and stir at the same time. It's a complex procedure!"

Away from the bickering, Howard smiled at Vince, who instantly smiled back, alighting his features in an angelic way.

"Naboo!" Dennis shouted over, making all four men (Well two men, one toddler and one gorilla) turn around, "We deem the potion ready!". Howard looked down at Vince, who went slightly green, but gulped and set his face into a determined expression. Naboo nodded at Howard and yelled,

"Ok, bring it over then!". The shamen poured the liquid into a bottle and brought it over to where the flatmates were stood. Saboo passed it to Howard who, heart thumping, gave it to Vince. The toddler looked up at their anticipating faces and brought the bottle up to his mouth. Just before he was about drink, he took it back down and looked over at Howard, his eyes full of fright. However, he got a nod, and gave his friend a shadow of a smile as he put it back up to his mouth and drank.

As the last drop disappeared, everyone held their breath and stared eagerly at Vince.

**Ha, someone's being a juicy dangler! Sorry, but I really wanted a dangling end to a chapter. Might make you anticipate the updates further ;) Please review? I still haven't made up my mind what should happen to the potion, so theres still time to get your 'vote' in... Go on, you know you want to...**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hiya ;) Hope y'all enjoyed the little cliff hanger at the end of last chap ;) By the way, I think I have roughly planned out whats gonna happen in the end (I know, I was surprised too!) so I'm guessing three or four chapters left ;) Oh, and I have a bad word in this chapter, so I may up the rating if anyone thinks I should?  
Disclaimer: Does anyone actually read these things?**

Everyone had their eyes on Vince, who was looking around uneasily, shifting from foot to foot. Not being able to bare the suspense any longer, Howard said,

"Did it work?" All the shamen looked at him before turning back to Vince, who looked terrified. The boy turned to Howard, Naboo and Bollo, who were all standing together, and said,

"Guys?" In a pitiful voice, that cracked halfway through. Howard looked at Naboo, who nodded, knowing what Howard wanted to do. He went to Vince and bent down, hugging him tightly,

"Don't worry Vince, we'll find another one".

"What're you talkin' about?!" Howard and Vince looked up (Well, down) to see Tony Harrison jumping up and down, "It worked!". Vince looked at himself, but seeing no difference, his lips trembled and he fell back on Howard.

"Ewww, Dennis you plonker, didn't you tell 'em about the potion?" All eyes turned to the head shaman, who looked a bit sheepish,

"I thought I told Naboo to tell them". Now everyone turned to Naboo, (_It's like a tennis game _Vince thought),

"I erm, Bollo I told you to tell them!". Again, the tennis ball was flung the other way,

"Oh," Was all the gorilla said, "Sorry" Naboo rolled his eyes and turned to Vince and Howard,

"It's definately worked". Vince raised an eyebrow, but stayed nestled in Howard's arms, and let him do the talking,

"How do you know?" Naboo rolled his eyes and mumbled what sounded like 'idiot' and pointed at Vince.

"Notice anything different about his hair?" They looked at it, and to Vince's joy it was back to its raven haired beauty.

"Genius! When'll the rest of me change?" Naboo turned to Bollo and saw him flicking through the book that had the ingredients of the potion in.

"Says here one thing will change, then rest happens all in one in..." The waiting was agonizing as Bollo slowly turned the page, "...anything from 3 days to five weeks".

"Weeks?!" Howard yelped, indignantly, but Vince simply snuggled up a bit more. So he might not be back for a couple of weeks, least he gets more hugs.

"Naboo," Howard turned to the shaman, "Is there anyway you can tell how long it'll take?" Naboo thought hard for a moment before shrugging and turning to Dennis (_Lazy bugger_ thought Vince). The head shaman coughed, but seeing everyone waiting, he said,

"I know a few, but I'm not sure if they'll work properly, the book I read them out of was updated quite a few years ago". Saboo rolled his eyes impatiently as Dennis got out a CD player, god knows where from, and shuffled a few CDs before finding what was aparently the right one. Naboo sighed. He knew this one, and it didn't work whatsoever. Still, he went over to Howard and whispered,

"Hold Vince like he was asleep, kinda cradle him a bit y'know? Rock him a bit". Howard looked surprised but did as Naboo said, and the shaman was grateful that Vince didn't protest in anyway. Bollo passed him Mitch, which he took with a smile, and his eyes almost glazed over straight away when the head shaman finally pressed play on the CD player. An old fashioned lullaby, that just had instruments playing, swam out of it. Howard absolutely hated any kind of music like this, and expected to find the same lok of disgust on his face as well, but instead, he saw a contented smile playing across his features.

To Howard, the tune was just a cheap keyboard pressing keys out of time, but to Vince, it was actual music, tranquil and warm, that drowned out everything else, until all he could concentrate on was this. He sank into a deep level of sleep, and it was with this that Dennis turned the 'music' off and looked expectantly at Tony.

"Wha'?"

"Work out how long he has"

"Shove off Dennis! This doesn't work at all! All you've managed is to send the little shrimp to sleep!". Dennis turned back to the CD player and looked at the back of the case.

"Damn, wrong one. Oh well". He turned to the flatmates who were waiting expectantly, "Well, we've helped as much as we can. Feel free to inform us when he comes back". Howard wanted to shout, but didn't want to wake Vince up, so he looked at Naboo, who whispered angrily,

"Come on head shaman! There must be _some _way you can find out how long he has!" Dennis saw he was outnumbered by the sea of angry faces so he coughed again and said,

"Oh very well, but to do this I'm going to be using the last of my shaman juice. You owe me Naboo". Naboo nodded sulkily as the shamen, after all having another little 'awwing' session followed Dennis over to a table, that had some green liquid in a bottle and some pink powder in another. They huddled around it, so Howard had no idea what they were doing. When they were finished, they brought a bowl over, that had a steaming yellow liquid in it.

"What are you going to do with that?" Howard asked, rather nervously.

"Blow it in his face" Saboo replied, and Howard had no idea whether that was serious or not. Looking over at Naboo for help, he found the shaman nodding slightly.

"What'll it do?" Howard asked.

"He should inhale it, and then when he breathes out, it should say in puffs how long he has," Naboo stopped, seeing the look on Howard's face, "Don't worry, it's non-toxic, and should have quite a nice taste". Howard still held Vince rather warily, but Naboo simply blew the steaming liquid near the boy, so the vapours went close to his face and were then pulled into him when he breathed in. He didn't choke or anything, but just breathed out normally, and everyone peered in, their necks craned. Nothing happened, and Howard thought they would never know, but then some sparkly gas came from Vince's mouth, in the shape of a number.

"3..." Howard read to himself. Then, came the words, _Days_. Bollo, Naboo and Howard all let out sighs of relief as the others all nodded happily.

"There you are Naboo," Dennis said, "I think you should take him home, he looks exhausted". Howard nodded and thanked them all, as did Naboo.

"Thanks guys, me and Bollo are gonna be getting back as well, the shop's probably on fire or something". They all nodded understandably as they watched Howard walk over to the carpet.

"Naboo, a quick word," Dennis motioned him over, "If I were you, I'd get him taken to this Shaman Psychologist. He seems to have a more child like mind than one would usually have under this spell"

"Yeah, well he is like that most of the time anyway"

"Really? And does he also sit on your laps and fall asleep in the middle of the day? Or enjoy hugging stuffed toys?" He gave Naboo a card and said, "Call her, she'll be able to tell you what kind of state his mind is in". Naboo narrowed his eyes.

"What kind of state his mind's in?! You're not telling me it could be affected after this?". Dennis shook his head,

"No, well. I don't know. But's its best to get him checked eh?" Naboo rolled his eyes, but said goodbye again and went over to the carpet, where Bollo and Howard were watching anxiously.

"What did they want Naboo?". The shaman handed Howard the card and explained what Dennis had said.

"What?! Vince's mind might be damaged?" Naboo shrugged maddeningly,

"I don't know, he wasn't very clear. This woman should be able to help". Howard sighed and nodded, looking over (_Lovingly?_) at Vince, who he had set down on the carpet.

Naboo nodded to Bollo,

"Lets go"

--

On the way back, during which Howard tried to make Naboo believe him that they had actually made quite a bit of money for the shop, Vince woke up. He stayed snuggled up to Howard, but managed to look around a bit more, now that the wind had died down. He still clutched at his meerkat. but now Howard knew that could be a problem for some reason, he didn't find it so cute anymore. Well, he found it cute, but was scared as to what it meant. Naboo was thinking hard, and didn't even realise they had stopped (Bollo had been driving). They went into the shop, and Naboo made a beeline for his room, before shouting down,

"Make the tea Bollo!" Howard rolled his eyes as he set Vince down in front of the sofa, the boy's eyes now looking bright and alert. He kept looking at his hair in the reflections of spoons, the T.V, the toaster, whatever, as if not fully believing it was back. Naboo came back from his bedroom, after announcing that he had called the psychologist and booked an appointment for the next morning.

"What d'you need a psychologist for Naboo?" They all looked at Vince, who was sat on the sofa, holding his meerkat and a drink of orange juice in the other hand. Naboo sighed and sat next to him,

"You see Vince, your mind might have been affected in some way by the potion. The head shaman thought that this woman might be able to help". Vince's eyes filled with tears,

"What d'you mean my mind might be affected? Like brain damage? What's wrong? I feel fine!" He looked over at Howard, who immediately picked him up, making him quieten almost instantly, he said in a hushed tone,

"They just think that you may be acting a bit too, _toddlerish_. They just think it might stay like that after you change back, so this woman might stop that from happening". Vince nodded, as if that had all made perfect sense to him.

D'you think I'm too needy?" He whispered into Howard's ear, tears brushing off his cheek and onto the older man's shoulder. Howard turned around and walked away from Naboo and Bollo, bouncing Vince,

"No little man, you've got the emotions of a three year old right now, you're bound to be a _little _clingy. Maybe it's something to do with your childhood. Did you get many hugs in the forest?" Vince shook his head and felt much better, smiling at Howard and making Howard smile as he tried to get down. The older man let him and watched fondly as he walked over to Naboo and whispered something in his ear. The shaman looked surprised but nodded and went to his room. Howard gave him a funny look as Naboo motioned for him to follow him. The door shut and Vince looked up at Bollo.

"Precious Vince want cup of tea?" Vince shook his head, aware that the orange juice he had had earlier was on several spot on his t-shirt, in various dribbled amounts. _Disgustin' _he thought to himself, as Bollo looked rather nervous left alone with a small person. Vince looked up at him and grinned, a thought occuring,

"Hey Bollo, y'know how you always say that for my birthday you'll spin me right over your head?" Bollo nodded, and thought about getting his inhalor ready, "How about you do it now? I'm well lighter than I was before!" Bollo was going to refuse, imagining Naboo's fury if he dropped the toddler, but Vince's blue eyes won him over, and he gave no warning as he picked the child up, smiling at the childish little shriek that errupted, which soon gave way to giggling, as Bollo held onto him tightly and zoomed him around the flat, throwing up occasionaly, but never very far, and actually burst out laughing when Vince yelled,

"Faster Bollo! Argh, this shit is wild!!"

--

While this was going on, Naboo had ushered Howard into his room.

"Howard, I'm worried about Vince. I think this psychologist would probably be able to fix it, but still, I think part of this comes from you... well. _babying _him a bit too much".

"Babying him? Naboo, I just calm him down if he needs it!"

"Come off it Howard, when I came in you were reading him a book!"

"He asked to be read to!" Naboo's face gave way to one of guilt and a bit of sadness.

"I don't know what to do Howard. Hopefully this psychologist will help, but y'know when he whispered to me?" Howard nodded, "He asked if I had any jigsaws he could do!"

"He's just bored Naboo! He can't read or draw, and what's so weird about puzzles? We do them all the time!". Naboo sighed, but straightened his turban slightly and had what looked like a determined face on.

"Fine, I'm sorry, but don't act so much like a father to him ok? And don't deny that either", He was about to say more, but a crash from the living room brought both men on high alert and they charged out of the room.

They came on the weirdest scene either of them had seen in a long time. Bollo had presumably been playing some game with Vince, and they had both just crashed out on the sofa, knocking over a lamp in the process.

"Bollo you ballbag!! That was my favourite lamp!". The two on the sofa leapt up and had equal guilty grins on their faces.

"Sorry Naboo" Vince put on a winning smile and stuck his thumb in his mouth, trying to win Naboo over. It got a smile so he winked at Bollo, who was obviously unable to get out of it in the same way.

"Erm, sorry Naboo". The shaman just shook his head and said,

"You can do the dinner Bollo, I fancy spaghetti". Vince and Howard shared a knowing grin, before Vince slid off the sofa and once again asked Naboo for the jigsaw. This time, he nodded and sent Howard to get it.

--

One hour later, and there was a scene of absolute tranquility in the living room. Bollo had made a superb spaghetti and washed up, so now he and Naboo were watching a 'Peacock dreams' re-run with the sound turned down a bit. Howard and Vince were sat at the newly-washed table, Vince in his pyjamas (He had dropped quite alot of sauce down himself) and now the two of them were laughing slightly as they were continuously putting the wrong peices in the spaces.

Howard noticed the time and shook himself. It was half ten, and he was getting pretty tired, so Vince must have been as well.

"Hey Vince, I think you should go to bed". Vince looked over at the sofa where Naboo and Bollo were hooked on peacock and pouted,

"I'm not _that _tired Howard. Can't we watch 'Peacock dreams' for a bit?" Howard sighed but didn't bother saying anything when Vince had already gone over and asked Bollo for a lift up. Howard decided to join them, as it looked so comfortable and warm. Naboo was sat at one end of the sofa, and Bollo was sat next to him, Vince looking like he wanted nothing more than to clamber up onto the comfortable, hairy beanbag. Howard sat next to Bollo, and immediatly got Vince wanting to sit on his lap. However, he picked him up and put him on Bollo's instead.

The room was in absolute silence in less than twenty minutes. Everyone was asleep on the sofa. The TV had been turned off by Naboo after he realised everyone else was asleep, but he decided to join them. Howard was slumped on one side, the shaman on the other. In the middle, Bollo was sat in the middle, cuddling Vince slightly, who was breathing softly through Bollo's thick gorilla fur.

**Cheers for reading ;) That testing thing with the shamen seemed off, but I had most severe writers block with this. I even had to go into hospital for a couple of days ;) Ok, please review and Ohh!! Next chap I get to use my GCSE psychology knowledge! So not a lot really lol. But the whole of this chapter came to me in science. Which was very unfortunate as my teacher is one who picks on people randomly to answer questions. So here was me sat staring into space, not listening to a word she was saying on atomic theory, she asks me a question and I leap out of my seat in fright and say 'Peacock dreams'. Seriously. You could have fried an egg on my face. Ah well. I've talked too long. Hope you liked the chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry this took so long. I've been really busy, and have barely had any reviews (Cheers Stars of Andromeda+Chugirl2526). Hopefully this is because you're all really busy too :s I'm not gonna nag, but it is nice to get reviews ;)  
Oh and btw, in this chapter I get to use some of my GCSE psychology knowledge ;)  
Disclaimer: Not mine!**

Howard woke up with a crick in his neck to find two of his friends also waking up, and looking at their faces guessing they too had similar problems. However, the look on Vince's face suggested that he had had a very pleasant sleep, in the comfortable arms of a gorilla. They were mumbling hazy 'good mornings' to each other, when Naboo looked at the clock sleepily and gave a start.

"Howard, it's Vince's appointment in an hour!" He hurried off to get a clean turban, while Bollo went off to do god knows what, first plonking Vince on Howard's lap. The older man wasn't phased at all, and merely shook himself and yawned, rubbing his eyes to get rid of any sleep.

"Well you might as well get dressed little man, I washed those dungarees, so you can wear them if you want. 'Cause y'know, with the straps and everything..." He tailed off, scared that Vince might think he (Howard) wanted the younger man to wear them because he looked cute. Vince, however, gave him a sleepy but cheeky smile and slid off his lap, toddled off to their bedroom and shut the door.

Howard went to put the kettle on, breathing in and out slowly, as though at the very start of his jazzercise workout. _I haven't been to that in ages _He mused, _I really need to, the guys will be wondering what's happened. Maybe I could have it over here..._

He was stopped in his thinking by the bedroom door opening and Vince coming out. He had the pingu top on again, and had decided to go for the dungarees, mainly because they stayed up because they had straps, but a tiny part of him wore them because they made him look cute, and he could get more stuff with them (Food, magazines etc)

"You can go get changed now" Vince said, stating the obvious, but Howard just smiled and did so. Coming back with courderoy trousers and a beige turtle-neck, he found Vince sat on the floor, his legs splayed out. Between them, there was one of those puzzles that looked like a block of wood with some different shapes cut into them. Beside him, there were some colourful plastic shapes that would fit in the right holes. His tongue was stuck out and he looked like the model of concentration. Howard didn't want to disturb him, but he had to ask,

"Where did you get that from Vince?" The toddler looked up, startled. He hadn't realized that Howard had come back into the room.

"Oh, hey Howard. Naboo gave it to me. Said the doctor told him to". With that he was back on the toy, and Howard was watching him fondly before he jumped as Naboo's door opened and the shaman came out.

"How's he doing with it?" He lisped, whispering to Howard. The older man was actually quite surprised he hadn't noticed before, but Vince was actually having real trouble with the puzzle. He kept sticking the wrong shape in the hole, and looked to be struggling.

"Why can't he do it properly Naboo?" The shaman shook his head and replied,

"I don't know, but this psychologist said to tell us if anything else like this happens. Must be something to do with his mind,". Howard's worry must have shown on his face, as Naboo stopped himself and said, "I mean... I'm sure it's nothing Howard. Come on, we've got to go, we're walking"

"Why?"

"Because I'm not wasting petrol on something that's only a couple of streets away". Howard nodded and went to Vince.

"Hey little man, we're going now, and we're walking, so get your coat". Vince nodded and cast a hateful glance at the puzzle before grabbing his coat of the chair in the corner.

"Naboo, how far away is it exactly?" Naboo shrugged,

"Just a couple of streets". Howard frowned, thinking. Should he bother with the buggy? There would be no need for it in the psychologist's, but Vince got tired easily.

"Do you think we should take the buggy?" He asked Naboo. The shaman smiled slightly at the thought of Vince in a buggy, and asked,

"I'd forgotten about that. Did it work alright?"

"Yeah it worked fine. So should we take it?" Naboo inhaled on the hookah he had in his hand and said,

"Nah, I wouldn't bother. We'd be there soon". Howard nodded and turned back to Vince, seeing something that made his eyes expand to a size that they weren't comfortable with. Bollo had come back into the room and whether it was due to Vince asking him to, or because he looked too cute, the gorilla was now tickling him gently, smiling at the childish giggles errupting from the boy. Howard turned to Naboo to see a similar look on his face, and Vince managed to open his eyes and look over at them both.

"C'mon guys, I can't breathe!" He choked out, and eventually Howard scooped him up and took him over to where Naboo was stood. They both stared at Bollo, who was presumably blushing underneath all that fur.

"I'm not even going to ask" Naboo mumbled, and ushered them all to the stairs. He went down first, with Howard and Vince in the middle, and Bollo bringing up the rear.

--

It was actually quite warm considering the time of year and the weather that they had had previously. Still, it was cold enough for them to see their breath coming out in white steam, and Naboo pulled his turban slightly lower down on his head. Vince was quite happy to be out in the open air, and was skipping around a bit, smiling as people passing started going 'aww, bless'. After a while however, it got quite annoying and he traipsed back to where the other three were (He had skipped in front). Quite shyly, he slowly put his hand nearer to Howard's until he just went for it and clutched at his friend's hand. Howard inwardly gasped at this but pretended to ignore it. However, Vince's tiny hand was absolutely freezing, and he found himself rubbing his fingers over the toddler's, trying to warm them up.

After a while, with Naboo directing them down several side streets, they came withing looking distance of the shaman psychologists. By this time Vince's short legs were aching terribly, and Howard noticed him slowing and whimpering a couple of times. He sighed,

"Vince if you're getting tired, you just need to say". Vince looked down bashfully, but glanced up to see Howard still looking at him.

"Sorry Howard," And he meant it as well, "I'm getting really tired. Will you... y'know, erm..." Howard smiled beautifully and picked Vince up carefully, ignoring the look that Naboo sent in his direction. They all walked in silence until they got to the psychologists. Naboo motioned for them all to stop, as they pulled up outside a building that somehow looked like glass, but you couldn't see through it. Vince was quite freaked out as for some bizarre reason it reminded him of a topshop voucher, but shoved the thought to one side as Naboo rapped on the 'glass' and muttered something to the building. Just as Vince was about to say something _incredubly _witty and cutting about the glass not being able to hear, a door rippled into view, which led to both Vince and Howard going through with their mouths wide open, gazing around in awe. The inside looked like the walls were made of brick, but they had all seen the outside as glass. The walls were decorated with paintings that looked like those ink blot tests people do, and there were smooth black sofas stood next to the walls, and glass-topped tables next to them.

Naboo pointed out the reception, which was well hidden, and they all walked up to it, Howard somehow feeling a strange sense of foreboding as they came upon a receptionist who was swirling around in their chair, giggling slightly, but with a very solemn face on.

"Erm, hi, we've got an appointment for..." Naboo glanced at the clock, "Now. Can we go through?" The receptionist stopped spinning and smiled, running his tongue over his lips, and was smoothing his eyebrows down with his pinkies.

"_Mais oui_, go right in _mes amis et_ _le bebe"_. He pointed through the doors and spoke in an American accent. As Howard backed away, keen to keep Vince as far away as possible from this lunatic, a warm voice sounded behind them, making all four turn around.

"Ah, you must be my half nine, come through!" The voice came from a woman wearing robes and a turban, "Ignore my secretary, I've been meaning to fire him". She smiled and waved at him, as he was drooling at this point and waving errotically at anyone passing (_Is there such a thing as waving errotically? _Howard thought).

Howard noticed that when she said hello to them she didn't baby Vince in any way. Even he looked shocked as she simply said, "Hi, I'm your doctor, Naboo tells me you accidently swallowed some water from the fountain of youth?". Naboo nodded and she smiled at them all.

"Step into my office". They did so and found very comfortable chairs, and a small pile of toys and puzzles in the corner, which Vince gave a small glance to before walking in and holding his arms out to be placed on Howard's lap. The older man did it automtically, and didn't notice the psychologist giving him a critical glance over her glasses.

"Soooo... The head shaman told me he was worried the potion may have done something to Vince's mind?" Howard nodded, a lump rising in his throat. The doctor smiled and looked down at Vince.

"Would you come over to my desk please?" He did so, sliding off his friend's lap and toddling over, "Ok Vince, see these cardboard mountains here?" She motioned towards a cardboard cut-out of a basic mountain, that looked like two peices slotted together, making four little pockets was stood on the desk, "All I want you to do is put this doll here," Now placing a playmobile doll on the desk, "In one of these gaps, according to this picture". She placed a picture of a doll next to the mountain, which also had a picture of her, where she was sat now, on it.

Vince nodded, and stared hard at the picture, then at the doll, then at the mountain. Eventually, he placed it in the right place, and sat back, waiting for something else. The doctor smiled warmly and said,

"Ok, now something else," She now reached under her desk and got out two more mountains. Placing them in different angles on her desk, she moved her chair so she was exactly opposite Vince, "Try and draw these from my point of view". Howard was amazed at how much Vince struggled at this. After many scribblings and crossings out, he said in a small voice,

"I can't do it". The doctor smiled at him, and patted him on the arm,

"Never mind. I just have a couple more things for you to do and then I need a quick word with... I'm guessing you live with these 3?" Vince nodded and gave Howard a small smile.

"Ok," she began, taking two small balls of dough out from her desk, "Right Vince, would you say these have the same amount of dough in?" Vince nodded and she smiled, squashing one down into a pancake shape, "What about now? Which one has more dough in?". To Howard's surprise, Vince pointed at the squashed one.

The Psychologist smiled again, "Vince, would you mind if I asked you to step over there while I talk to these three?" She motioned over at the toys in the corner, and Vince shrugged and moved off to it.

The doctor moved slightly closer to them and said in hushed tones,

"This is going to be quite hard to explain with none of you knowing anything about psychology but it can't be helped. Right, a normal three year old, when asked those questions I asked Vince will respond in exactly the same way he did. The three mountains one shows that a three year old is egocentric, which means that they only see things from their point of view" She drew breath and looked at them, surprised that Howard was smiling slightly,

"He's like that usually. Very vain". She smiled and continued,

"It seems that his mind is at the 'pre-operational stage' of development. He would have trouble letting other join him, and if I covered a toy that he wanted, chances are he would eventually stop looking for it, assuming it now no longer exists. I want to do one more thing before I give my full diagnosis. Which of you would say has been his main carer during all of this?". Bollo and Naboo both looked over at Howard, who blushed slightly and said,

"Er yeah, me I suppose". The doctor surveyed him over her glasses.

"I thought so. When you came in he wanted to be on your lap. That's quite worrying, does he normally do that?" She asked, with an amused smile playing on her face as Howard shook his head firmly.

"Ok, one last thing, is he unable to do anything he could before?"

"He can't read, tie his laces, he spills drinks and food, erm...he can't draw very well, he's getting tired much earlier, everything hurts him more and he really... well, enjoys getting hugs now". He blushed but the doctor was glancing at Vince out of the corner of her eye, tapping her pencil against her lips, thinking hard.

"Ok, I think I can do something, but I just need to check one more thing. All I want you to do, is if Naboo and Bollo walk out, maybe say bye to Vince, come up with some excuse about leaving, and maybe a couple of minutes after that, Howard will go. Except you don't say bye or anything ok? Straight out". They all nodded, and she motioned towards Bollo and Naboo, who at once stood up and head towards the door.

Vince looked up from the blocks he was stacking half-heartedly and asked,

"Where're you two goin'?" Bollo looked at Naboo who just stuttered,

"Shaman business". With that they were gone and Vince looked up to see Howard and the doctor in deep conversation. At first he was worried it would be like Beth all over again, but they looked over at him once or twice. He sighed. They had better find something to help him. Only about three minutes passed when Howard got the nod to leave. As he was told, he walked right out and didn't even glance at Vince when he looked up, bewildered and said,

"Hey Howard, where're you going?". The doctor noted that Vince looked quite worried as he walked out, and was nervously flicking his eyes back and forth, towards the desk where the doctor was and back to what he was doing.

"Wh-where did Howard go?" She smiled at him and asked,

"Why, are you perhaps, concerned that he went?" He mumbled something that she couldn't hear,

"Pardon?"

"I said I don't like being alone with strangers! And Howard... Howard makes me feel calmer. And safe" With that he looked down, and didn't notice the woman walking out to beckon Howard back in. When he did, Vince perked up and flung himself at the older man's legs. Howard smiled and patted his head,

"I'm guessing you missed me?" He joked, and didn't mind Vince asking with his eyes to be picked up and placed on his lap. When the doctor was on her side of the desk, she began,

"Well, as you many both have guessed, Vince is acting more toddler-like than is usual in these situations" She paused and Howard hugged Vince slightly, who he could tell was getting nervous, "I wouldn't worry if I were you. This will probably stop when he becomes normal. By the way, when is that?..."

"2 days" Howard replied, and she smiled at him, and motioned towards the door.

"If there is anything else that concerns you, now would be the time to say?..." Howard shook his head,

"No we're fine. Well, thanks, we'd better be going" She nodded and smiled one last time.

--

They got out of the psychologists without too much fuss, although they skirted around the receptionist's table when leaving, and were now out in the sunshine. However, it had gotten colder while they were in there.

"Too cold for precious Vince," Bollo mumbled, "Should not be out in such temperatures". Howard smiled at Bollo's compassion for the boy and turned to him, who was stumbling along behind them.

"Vince, do you want Bollo to carry you home? He thinks you're too cold!" Vince stepped towards the gorilla, who was looking bashful, and grinned,

"Cheers Bollo, I'm freezin'!" With that he was scooped up by Bollo's huge hands and they continued down the path, back towards the shop.

**I really didn't like this ending for some reason :s Sorry if you didn't think that huge wait was worth it ;) I'm sorry to say the next wait will probably be longer, I have no ideas for the next chapter. Some'll come eventually, but you might have a bit of a wait Please review, it really does make me want to continue with it ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hiya! Okey first off, AGAIN thanks for reviews ;) I think it's safe to assume I don't have a plot from now on, so we're going into uncharted territories ;) I love you all by the way ;) Sorry it's so short, I'm not actually sure why it is :s  
Disclaimer: It is obviously not mine. If it was I would have them both locked in my cupboard until they had written ALOT more series'.**

"Hey Howard," Howard looked over; enjoying the sunshine in the park they were walking in, "Would it be ok if you held me for a while? Only Bollo bounces quite a lot, and I don't feel very well".

Howard stared in surprise but went over to a disgruntled gorilla and took the toddler from him. Once he had him in his preferred postition, Howard asked,

"How don't you feel very well?" VInce shrugged and said,

"I just feel a bit sick, and I've still got a bit of a headache". Howard nodded understandably, whereas Naboo whipped around,

"What do you mean _still_ have a bit of headache?" _Damn is Naboo observative _Thought Howard, before saying, blushing somewhat,

"It's nothing Naboo, he just has small hangover". The shaman's eyes narrowed,

"You let him have booze?". Howard was about to say something, when to his surprise Vince flared up.

"No he didn't! He told me not to, but I had some anyway!". Both men blinked at this rushed confession, "Don't blame him, he was out of the room!". Naboo and Howard glanced at each other. Why was Vince so eager to protect Howard? Even if it meant getting into trouble...

On this occasion however, he was saved a telling off when Howard said something _just _before Naboo was going to,

"Vince, on a scale of one to ten, how sick do you feel?" He asked because Vince was a very odd shade of green, and was closing his eyes slightly, as if in pain. He stuck up ten fingers, so Howard swore and stuck him next to some bushes (They were in a park remember). Vince immediately reached for Howard as he started retching, and the older man at once held out a hand for Vince to cling onto. He also started making comforting circles on the toddler's back, and even Naboo chipped in, and pulled his hair away from his face.

When he was finished, Howard looked worriedly down at him. He looked slightly better, but the older man was worried as to what could have made him suddenly throw up,

"Vince, are you actually feeling ill, or do you think it's just the hangover?". Vince shrugged,

"Dunno, my stomcah hurts, and I'm quite..." He tailed off and stared at a sign that was taped to a tree, "Oh wow fireworks!! Howard can we watch them? Please! It'll be genius, we could have a picnic an' all sorts!".

Howard looked into his friend's eyes and knew he didn't have the heart to let him down,

"Erm, I don't know Vince, you were just sick remember, and... wait, how did you read the sign? Is more stuff coming back?" Vince shook his head sadly,

"There's a picture on it". Howard patted him on the back and looked back to Naboo. The shaman sighed and rolled his eyes, but also knew who had the upper hand when Vince flashed a hopeful smile at him,

"Fine, but I don't want to stay out too late". Vince gave him a cheeky grin as Howard got up to read the sign,

"Cheers Naboo, you're a diamond"

"Says here that it starts at 7pm, and it's at that huge clearing in the middle of the park" Vince grinned,

"Does that mean we can take a picnic? Ooh, and we can get a blanket to sit on, if we get there first, we'll get the best seat, and maybe have first dibs on any glow sticks they hand out, or maybe they'll have hot-dog vans..." He was stopped by Howard sticking a hand over his mouth,

"Calm down little man, remember you've just been sick? Take it easy". Vince nodded and for some reason went over to Naboo,

"Hey Naboolio, I haven't been held by you yet! Hows about it?" Naboo looked startled at this request, and Howard wasn't sure whether it was because it was Vince, or because Naboo had never held a small child before. However, he nodded and picked his friend up, slowly and carefully, Vince very nearly sighing and telling him to hurry up.

Howard was amazed that Naboo actually held him properly, but didn't say anything when Vince started dropping off to sleep and his head started drooping out of Naboo's hands. Instead he went over and gently ran his fingers through Vince's hair,

"Are you trying to wake him up?" Naboo whispered, sounding quite relieved. Howard nodded, but scowled as the effect of that was pushing Vince even more toward sleep. Naboo said,

"Just take him, I don't feel safe holding babies". Howard smiled at this, but took his friend, holding him _properly, _and definately making sure he was supporting his head.

"Hey Howard," Naboo started talking, "How did you get so good at holding babies? I mean, you've never been near one". Howard pondered this question for a while before answering,

"I dunno, I just kind of, got on with it, it's not really hard, I mean, you can tell whether he likes it or not, because he really snuggles into you". Naboo smiled slightly and put a hand on Howard's arm,

"I'm guessing the transition this time will be harder for you?" He was surprised by the answer,

"No actually, before he couldn't remember anything, and he was acting _way _cuter than he is now. Our relationship might improve from this. We had a kind of, heart to heart before, and he isn't as shallow as I thought he was. He does actually think deep sometimes". Naboo was nodding, he himself thinking deep.

They had been walking through the park for another five minutes before Howard stopped at a small ice cream van,

"I know it's not really the healthiest snack, but I am really hungry. Anyone else?" To his surprise, both Naboo and Bollo decided to have one as well. He looked down at Vince, clearly wondering whether to wake him or not. He had just been sick though, so he probably wouldn't want one,

"Oh wake him up," Naboo said, his mood getting happier with the ice cream, "I've got stuff at home to give him if he feels ill". Howard smiled thankfully at him and shook Vince. The toddler stirred and mumbled something,

"Come on little man, time to wake up," Howard whispered to his friend, "Do you want an ice cream?" Vince's eyes opened fully and he mumbled,

"Is it just vanilla?" Howard rolled his eyes,

"'Fraid so Vince, but do you want one?". Of course, Vince couldn't resist the frozen sugar and they had to find a bench to sit at while eating, as Vince wanted to walk with it, but there were huge icy patches everywhere. The man at the van had smiled at Vince and asked if he wanted sprinkles and a flake, free of charge, so he now had sprinkles dropping everywhere as he was trying to eat the flake first.

In only a few minutes, he was finished, and Howard goraned when he saw how hyper all of those coloured sprinkles had made the toddler,

"Hey Howard, y'know what we should do? We should play football, we _never _play football, why do we never play football? ooh, look, there's a field, I bet Naboo has something we could use, hey Naboo do you have a football me and Howard could use?!"

Naboo groaned as well and shook his head, making Vince deflate in dissapointedness. Howard said quickly,

"I don't have a ball, but we could play tag over there". Vince's eyes sparked brightly and he jumped up and down, agreeing at 90 miles an hour, "Ok, I'll be over there in a minute". Vince charged off, and Naboo and Howard were both shocked when Bollo made a rubbish excuse about making sure Vince didn't go too near the water and went off as well, so they heard a delighted squeal from Vince as the gorilla chased after him.

"I shouldn't have let him have those sprinkles," Howard closed his eyes tightly before speaking again, "He's on such a bad sugar high. He'll crash soon and then be out for ages, he'll probably miss the fireworks".

"Just do loads of stuff to tire him out quicker," Naboo advised, "Then let him sleep until like, an hour before it". Howard nodded, agreeing. They watched for a while until Bollo looked over whilst taking his inhalor out. At this point, Vince ran over, pulling Howard up by the arms.

"Come on Howard!!". He got up before giving Naboo a look, whilst the shaman looked sumg as Howard began half-heartedly running after Vince, who didn't seem to mind how slow he was. Then, Vince tripped. Howard pulled up, expecting him to burst into floods. However, he sniffed a bit and got back up, smiling wanly at Howard.

"C'mon I'm bored, let's go back to Naboo". Howard was slightly dazed as Vince grabbed his hand and pulled him back to where the other two were. Naboo smiled at Vince as he pulled up in front of them,

"You ok after falling over?" He checked.

"Yeah I'm fine! Hey Naboo did you notice that oranges are called orange but bananas aren't called yellows?" Naboo quirked an eyebrow at this, but merely said,

"Really?" And went over to Howard, who looked like he was dying to ask a question,

"Naboo, do you think that him falling over but not crying might be a sign that he's going to change?" Naboo shook his head, and looked up to see Howard's crestfallen face,

"He has two days remember? And I think he just didn't notice the pain because of how hyper he is". Howard nodded, and was almost pulled over as a toddler grabbed hold of his legs,

"Hey Howard, let's go swimming! It'll be genius, I haven't been swimming in ages!". He looked up at Howard, who almost fainted in relief as the toddler yawned suddenly,

"Vince, we're going home" Howard said, firmly, "If you want to watch those fireworks you're going to have to sleep _now_" Vince harrumphed and whined and whimpered but Howard stood firm, although Naboo could tell how hard it was for him,

"Vince, whe we get back you can play with my potions". Everyone looked up, mouths open. Naboo _never_ let anyone near his potions. Vince decided this was good enough and shut up, nestling into Howard as he picked him up.

"I gotta bad feelin' about this" Bollo muttered as Vince accidently kicked the shaman's turban off as he demonstrated to Howard how he would kick a football.

--

"Naboo, are you sure it's a good idea to let a hyper Vince with incompetant hands play with your potions?" Naboo nodded as he got a select few bottles out and took them over to Vince, who waiting patiently at the table.

"Ok Vince, mix these bottles for a while and see what happens" Howard was gobsmacked and even Vince looked startled at the free-reign he was being given. Still, he shrugged and grabbed a glittery bottle and poured it into a bowl Naboo had provided. He then got a deep purple bottle and poured that on the bowl. There was a shower of glitter as Vince gazed at the finished product.

The childish giggling drew Naboo's concentration to Vince, who was holding a miniature rainbow, occasionaly dripping coloured beads of water. Howard watched, amused as Vince placed it carefully down on the table and put the same purple stuff in, but instead used a green bottle. Another flash of silver and a small figure emerged from it.

"It's a unicorn" Vince stated breathlessly. A small unicorn that looked to be made out of plastercine was cantering gently around the table, before going up to Vince's hand and nuzzling it slightly. Vince smiled widely and went to pick it up, but to his dismay it evaporated.

"Aww! Naboo, why'd it go?" The shaman turned from where he had been sat on the sofa and smiled softly,

"They don't last for very long Vince". The toddler turned quickly to where his rainbow was and let out a sigh. It was still there. Naboo wrinkled his brow and frowned,

"Which ones did you use for that one?" Vince pointed at the two bottles and Naboo smiled.

"Ohh. Don't worry, you can probably keep that forever. Put it in a jar or something". Vince looked up at Howard, his face shining. Howard smiled and picked him up carefully off the chair.

"Come on little man, if you want to be awake for those fireworks you better sleep now". Thankfully, Vince didn't protest and leant against Howard as he mumbled "night" at Naboo and Bollo.

When he was in bed, Howard came back to the room. The rainbow was still sat on the table, glowing slightly. Howard carefully carried it over to the side and found a jar. Putting it in, he crept back to the room and set it on the bedside table near Vince's bed. That corner of the room was lit by a soft, multicoloured glow, as Howard crept out, to start getting the picnic ready.

**Ok, this is probably my least favourite chapter cause it goes nowhere. I just needed a way to make it get to the fireworks faster lol. I love reviews And how cool would it be if you really did get small rainbows to put in jars?**


	16. Chapter 16

**Ok, whole boring routine, thanks for reviews, you're probably all getting a bit bored of this story by now, so you'll be be pleased to know just a few more chapters! Theres a little surprise at the end of this one that I thought of just now. Don't know why I added it so far near the end of the story, it would have done better near the beginning,**** but oh well :)  
Disclaimer: Not mine!**

"Hey guys, what do you want on your sandwiches?"

Howard stood at the kitchen counter and shouted out to Naboo and Bollo, who were sharing a hookah, slouched down on the sofa. They were having a picnic on the green in the park, before the fireworks, so Howard was, of course, in charge of pretty much all of it. THe shaman and gorilla looked up momentarily and replied,

"Cheese"  
"Ham and pickle, cheers Harold"

Howard just rolled his eyes, and didn't even bother correcting him as he got the fillings ready. However, just as he was packaging his, Naboo's and Bollo's up, he realised that he hadn't made Vince's yet. The toddler was in bed, catching up on some sleep after a major sugar high and if he didn't sleep now, chances are he would fall asleep during, maybe even before, the fireworks. So Howard crept down the corridor and opened the door, pushing his head round the side.

Vince was curled up under the covers, tufty hair poking out, and making contended little sighing sounds, couple with the sound of him sucking his thumb. It was obvious he needed this sleep, so Howard just closed the door again, shaking his head at his own slight stupiditity, as he really already knew what Vince would want in his sandwich.

He went back to the kitchen and opened the jar of chocolate spread, _not _slathering it all on like Vince himself did, but putting sensible amounts on each slice of bread. Finished with the sandwiches, he started on the other bits they could have. After rootling around in the cupboards, he found they barely had anything that they would _all _agree on. Sighing, he announced to the two on the sofa that he needed to quickly nip to the shops. At this Naboo turned around,

"What about Vince?" Howard raised an eyebrow, not understanding,

"What about him?"

"Well, what happens if he wakes up? What if he goes into a strop because you're not there?" Howard snorted, then realised that Naboo was serious,

"Get Bollo to tickle him" He answered, giving Bollo a hard stare, who pretended to not be listening to the conversation, "Do you want anything in particular? Food wise Bollo" He added, as Bollo looked to be about to ask for some monkey porn.

"Yeah, get some muffins would ya Howard?" Naboo asked, so Howard nodded and went out.

--

In a peaceful room, where all you could hear was a sleeping child, there was a sudden enormous crash that made Vince leap up in shock. He nearly managed not to burst into tears, but it was a close thing, and he couldn't help it. He shot out of bed and slapped at the light switch. As soon as the light was on, he saw at once what had made the crash. His CD player had been balanced precariously on the side of the wardrobe, and had just toppled suddenly. Knowing this, he tried to make his breathing normal, and stop his tears, but it was just impossible. He needed Howard. Howard who could stop it all with one hug and 'shh'. He pulled on the door and stumbled out of the room, tears blurring his vision and making him almost trip over his own feet.

Naboo and Bollo were still sat on the sofa, when Naboo looked up,

"Can you hear that?" They both listened, and sure enough, they picked up on Vince's crying. To Bollo's surprise, the shaman looked rather pale,

"Naboo alright?" Naboo nodded his head,

"Yeah, I'm just not good with little kids, especially the ones that are crying". Bollo nodded understandingly, but they both jumped as the bedroom door opened. They both turned and saw Vince stumbling out, rubbing his eyes and wailing slightly. He was obviously looking for Howard, and not finding him increased the volume of his crying,

"Howard's gone out Vince," Naboo said softly, making Vince jump in fright, "He'll be back soon. Do-d'you want to tell me...wh-what's wrong?" Vince smiled shakily and walked over to the sofa and was instantly picked up by Bollo's big gorilla arms. He settled into them and looked directly into Naboo's eyes,

"Well, mostly I'm crying 'cause I was kinda shocked awake by my CD player falling off the table", He smiled, embarrassed, but continued, "But before that, I was having this dream about... y'know, my..." He looked significantly at Naboo, and was pleased to see something dawn on him,

"Oh. Don't worry Vince, dreams don't mean anything". He didn't mention the fact that as a shaman, he had had to take a course on reading dreams, and that they meant _alot. _Still, Vince calmed down slightly, so he just smiled at him. An awkward silence followed for a while, before Naboo realised it wasn't an awkward silence, as two of those who were originally part of the awkward silence were asleep. Naboo rolled his eyes. He wasn't mean enough to wake a sleeping baby up, but Bollo didn't need any more sleep, and the shaman was getting lonely. So prodding the gorilla in the side, Naboo got him to open his eyes.

"Bollo, if you fall asleep with Vince in your arms, you'd probably fall _on _him and crush him" He lisped,

"Oh, ok" Bollo grunted, and was about to return Vince to the bedroom, when they heard the front door open softly. Naboo smiled to himself. Even in the shop Howard was trying not to wake Vince up. As he got up the stairs, he noticed the sleeping infant in the gorilla's arms. Looking questioningly at Naboo, he got a head nod toward the kitchen.

When they were in, Howard started unpacking a bag, listening to Naboo,

"Apparently his CD player fell off the table, shocked him awake," Howard nodded, and turned to Naboo, looking like he was about to ask if that was it, "Howard, has Vince ever mentioned his parents to you?" Howard looked surprised,

"No, I thought he lived with Bryan Ferry?"

"He did, _after_ he lived with his parents"

"Why? What happened?" Naboo shook his head,

"It's not my place to say, but he had a dream about them. Just thought you should know. He might be a bit, _jumpy_" Howard raised an eyebrow, and made a mental note to ask Vince about his parents. Naboo patted him on the back and left, leaving Howard thinking hard. What could his parents have done to make Vince so shaky? Why did he have to go and live with Bryan Ferry?

He was shook out of these thoughts by a hand on his trousers. Smiling, he turned to see Vince rubbing sleep out of his eyes with one hand, and was using the other to pull on Howard's clothing,

"Howard, what am I having for the picnic?"

"Why don't you choose? I've just been out". He beamed as Vince dragged a chair across to the bench and lifted him onto it. Vince studied the many foods on the bench before choosing a packet of salt and vinegar crisps, a muffin and after recieving a quick lecture on a balanced diet, a banana.

"Can I have a sandwich?"

"It's already been done"

"Oh. What's in it?"

"Chocolate spread" A grin (Excuse the pun) spread over Vince's face,

"Genius! When're we goin?"Howard looked up at the clock,

"Well, since it starts in an hour, I think we should go _now_. To get the best seat and to eat before it gets too dark". Vince agreed and jumped off the bench to notify Naboo and Bollo.

--

They were soon heading down the path, Vince again opting to walk rather than use the buggy. He seemed much better after sleeping, and was walking with renewed vigour, chattering away like he did when he was normal, and he and Howard even got into a friendly argument over music,

"C'mon Howard, I don't care _who_ Lestor accidently hit in Tesco, it can't beat dropping a new chelsea boot on Pete Townshend's foot!" He sighed at Howard's lost expression, "Pete Townshend? Lead guitarist of The Who?" He groaned as Howard shrugged, but saw what he claimed was the perfect picnic spot.

Bollo layed the rug out and sat down, looking in the direction of where the fireworks would soon be. Naboo also sat on the ground, and laughed at the continuing fond bickering from his right,

"_No-one_ says picnic anymore Howard!"

"Yes they do! You did this morning!"

"That was this _morning_, Howard, everyone says pickernick!"

"Pickernick?" Naboo quieried, joining the banter,

"Yeah! Yogi bear says it, and he _always _has pickernicks". Naboo sighed but didn't say anymore, as did Howard, who believed the argument a lost cause and started rummaging in the 'pickernick' bag.

"Who wants what?" They all wanted their sandwiches, and three of them watched as one of their group was continually dropping bits on the rug and getting chocolate spread _all_ over his face.

After a while, the food was gone and they waited in anticipation for the forthcoming fireworks, Vince hopping every so often to different people's laps, moaning impatiently. By now, loads of people had flocked to see the fireworks, so they all three had to work hard to keep Vince near to them, knowing he could easily get lost in this big a crowd. Still, after a while, it was impossible to hold his attention,

"I'm bored, why won't it..." There was a crash and a colored light flew up into the sky. Vince looked up in awe and watched with an open mouth as firework after firework shot up, filling the sky with colourful lights and a glorious smokey smell. Howard grinned at Vince's amazed expression, as if he had never seen fireworks before. The occasional 'Wow' left his mouth breathlessly as he continued to stare upwards into the inky blackness, that was cut by showers of red, blue, green, gold, what seemed like millions of colour exploding, as if every colour imagined and then some were in the sky at once. Even Naboo and Bollo looked like they were enjoying themselves, but when Howard had a second glance, Bollo had his i-pod in.

However, Vince's gaze never left the sky, and when that final firework went up, he stayed sat there, smiling, but shivering, as if he had only just realised how cold he was. Howard gathered him close and asked,

"Did you enjoy that? Was it worth the cold?" Vince looked up, eyes shining, and Howard knew the answer. He also thought that the cold was worth that adorable look, which made his eyes sparkle and mouth quirk upwards, in an upside down rainbow.

"I _loved_ it! When can we have some? When's Bonfire night?" Howard laughed and Naboo, who had been listening in, said,

"It's in about two weeks Vince, I think this was for that". Vince nodded and asked,

"Hey Naboo, you're a shaman, you must know some dodgy firework dealer, who sells ones _way_ better than these!" Naboo chuckled and replied,

"You know I could probably _make_ ones better than these". Howard laughed at Vince's face and said,

"C'mon, we'd better get going, it's _freezing, _and the litter's gonna blow away soon". They all helped to stuff the picnic things back in the bag and Bollo rolled the rug up and put it under his arm.

They walked home, this time Vince opting to be carried, meaning Naboo grabbed the picnic basket so he wouldn't have to. Vince grinned understandingly and was scooped up by Howard.

--

They got back to the shop to see two people stood in front of the shop, peering into the darkness. Howard shot Naboo a glance, and walked over, holding Vince so that the toddler's legs were wrapped around him and his head buried into the older man's chest.

"Excuse me? Can I help?" The two turned and Howard saw it was a man and a woman, he smiled, "Hi, I work and live here, can I help?"

The man, who had bright blue eyes which were scowling at Howard answered,

"I hope so. We're looking for Vince Noir. He works here too?" The woman nodded and shifted slightly closer to what Howard presumed was her partner. She would have had a pretty face, but the frown on her face made her look like some kind of goblin.

"Er yeah he does, but er... and, you are?..."

Naboo had caught up at this point and looked up, aghast, at the two people in front of him. Also, (Unaware to anyone but Naboo, who looked at him) Vince had gone a sickly green colour, and was sweating slightly, knowing the voices of these people well.

The man scowled some more at Howard and answered his question,

"We're his parents"

**Woah! I know you're probably wondering why this is in the story so near the end. I only came up with it now lol. Also, it isn't out of the blue. Well, it is, but there is a reason, I promise ;) Reviews are loved. Oh, and sorry it's quite short as well :s**


	17. Chapter 17

**Cheers for all the reviews, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint! Also, there is some possibly offensive language in here, so y'know, you've been warned ;)  
Disclaimer: I'm not even gonna bother saying it anymore.**

"You're- you...I, what?..." Howard was seriously struggling here. Thankfully Naboo, who had some inkling of what these people had done, stepped up.

"Sorry, but Vince isn't here. You might want to come back later. Or maybe not at all". Howard stared at Naboo, and honestly couldn't think of a time when he'd been rude to people he'd only just met. Apart from when he was drunk, but he certainly wasn't drunk now.

However, he could feel Vince shaking, and knew only too well that there would be tears sliding down his face, and he would have his thumb in his mouth. Mr and Mrs Noir were looking from him, to Naboo, to Bollo.

"We would like to see our son. It took us quite a long time to find him, as he never kept in touch. We will wait inside for him to return" His mother said, fixing Howard with an icy glare. He knew there was no way he would be able to say no to this woman, she looked like she would stab him if he refused. He looked at Naboo for help, still cradling Vince.

"Listen, Vince isn't here, so why don't you just go home, and come back when he _is_ here?". Mr Noir stepped forwards, looking down on Naboo with a filthy look on his face,

"My wife said, we will stay here until he gets back. Is there a problem with that?" He was looking menacingly down on the shaman, who knew it would be no good, so he sighed and said,

"Fine, but it's a wasted journey, he went..." Naboo faltered, not knowing what to say,

"Skiing!" Howard broke in, "Skiing with his friend Leroy". Naboo nodded, as did Bollo, so the Noirs looked up at the shop and the woman said,

"Fine. We can wait, let us in".

Shaking his head, Naboo reached for the key in his pocket and let them through the front door. They stepped in, the looks on their faces showed all too well what they thought of the shop. Naboo pointed them toward the stairs and said,

"You can sit down on the sofa upstairs, Bollo can make you a cup of tea if you want". He pushed Bollo forward, who growled but followed the Noirs upstairs. As soon as they were gone, Howard put Vince on the floor. The boy was a mess. He was shaking so hard he looked like he was vibrating, his nose was running, he had tears falling down his face, and no matter what the older man said, Vince wouldn't stay too far away from him. He clutched onto his legs and buried his face into his trousers.

"Vince, calm down. It's going to be alright yeah? You're going to be fine," He looked toward Naboo, "Naboo, now you _have_ to tell me. What have his parents done?" Naboo looked down at Vince, who was still hugging Howard's legs,

"Do you want to tell him Vince, or shall I?" He didn't get a reply so he sighed and began,

"When he was born, his parents already had a child, another boy..."

"Michael" Vince snuffled,

"Yeah, Michael. And he was everything his parents wanted. You know, good at school, good at home, sporty, team captain at football, the works. Then when Vince came along, his dad tried to make him into a mini-Michael, but of course, y'know what Vince is like".

Howard looked down at Vince fondly, but felt anger brewing up inside of him. Vince was an amazing individual. Creative, he had his own unique style and talents. Naboo looked down at Vince sadly and said,

"Do you want me to continue?" Vince sniffed and shook his head, gazing up at Howard,

"I'll finish," He said, and Howard immediately picked him up, knowing what was coming next wouldn't be good, "Dad didn't like it that I was what I was...am. Y'know, I liked to do people's hair, draw, I didn't like sports, I didn't do very well at school. I did try! It was just too hard. One day he came home and saw me trying on these new boots and skinnies, I'd saved up for months. He was furious and shouted... really horrible things at me. He said he didn't want a little...a little faggot in his house and he threw my boots and skinnies away. He sent me to my room and I was just left there for maybe about two days. Then one day, I heard a huge crash, and someone screaming. So I opened my door, and Michael was...he'd, f-fallen down the stairs. Immediately broke his neck. Wh-when we came back from the f-funeral, my dad _and _my mum blamed me, and said I was the reason their perfect, only son was dead. Then they hit me. Really hard, and when I went to school I still had loads of bruises. They didn't take any notice of me, or they'd have kept me off until they'd faded. But the teacher saw, and I told her everything. Then some woman from social services came and took me to live with Bryan".

Tears had been threatening to fall from his eyes all the way through his horrible story, so Howard, disgusted as he was, just whispered in his ear,

"It's ok Vince, if you want to cry, you go and cry, it's gonna be ok, I'm here". His voice cracked but neither Vince or Naboo noticed. Naboo just watched sadly as Vince howled into Howard's jumper, not letting his grip loosen on the older man's shoulder as he bawled in pain of all the memories flooding back. Howard was at a complete loss, not knowing what to do. He knew a simple hug wouldn't fix this. Maybe a confrontation with his parents? No that would be stupid, he corrected himself instantly, for starters he's three right now. It was then a thought came to him,

"Naboo, how are we going to get his parents away? And they can't see him, because I bet they'll recognize him as a toddler". Naboo chewed his lip nervously.

"Just hold him like you are now, so they don't see his face and if they ask, tell them he's your son". Howard nodded, but couldn't stop Vince's crying. Nevertheless, with a determined expression on his face, he climbed up the stairs, rocking Vince as much as possible. The last thing he needed was to bring even more attention to him. Unfortunately, the Noirs were sat on the sofa, an uncomfortable Bollo making more cups of tea so he had something to do, and they looked up as Howard tried to calm the baby,

"You're going about that all wrong!" Mrs Noir snapped at him, and to Howard's horror, she stood up and came towards him, "Jesus, you're not a very good parent are you?"

"Well from what I know, you weren't much better!" Howard shouted back. A hush fell over the room as sparks leapt from Mrs Noir's eyes. To Howard's surprise, she had tears in them as well,

"Oh I get it," She hissed, "Vince told you about his brother. How he fell down the stairs. He probably said that we weren't there to be watching him, didn't he? It was alright for Vince! He always got the good sides of us, his poor brother was always nagged about something. We were too soft on Vince!" She was a strong woman, and didn't break down, but Howard could tell how much she wanted to. However, he was blazing with anger at this statement, and laughed mirthlessly,

"Too soft on him? He told me about how he was abused! How you blamed him for Michael's death! How you wouldn't let him be himself, and were so focused on your other son, all you saw were his tiny flaws. You never saw how wonderful he was!" Mr Noir stood up and Howard was surprised as the man smirked at him,

"Oh I get it," He said, repeating his wife's earlier statement, "You're another queer aren't you? Bet you've got the eye for my son haven't you? And to think..." He cast his gaze down to Vince, who immediately stiffened, somehow knowing he was being observed by his father, "You've got a baby as well" Mr Noir finished, sneering at Howard.

Naboo looked from one to the other, and coughed,

"Erm Howard, you might want to think about putting Vi-er... your son to bed?" Howard looked down and got a huge jolt of guilt in hs stomach as he realised how scared Vince was, being this close to his dad. Howard stepped away from Mr Noir and walked down the hall, ignoring the fact that everyone was staring at him.

He got into their bedroom and closed the door. Sitting down on the bed, he held Vince on his lap and let the toddler wrap his legs around the older man's waist.

"Vince, I am so sorry, I never realised about your parents, you just..." He looked down and saw that Vince was falling asleep on him. He smiled, but joggled him a bit so he woke up, "Vince...don't worry, when you wake up, I swear they'll be gone".

Vince smiled at him and said, "Thanks Howard. For saying all that stuff. I would _never_ have said any of that to my dad". Howard nodded and did something he hadn't done for all the time Vince had changed. He tucked him up into his bed and ran his fingers thorugh his hair, lulling him to sleep before bending down and kissing the toddler on the head, resulting in him breathing out happily, totally believing his friend when he said that his parents would be gone.

Howard sighed and stood up determindly. He _would_ make them go. For Vince. He closed the door slowly when he was out of the room, and headed back off to the living room. Naboo was sat in front of the Noirs, twisting his feet uncomfortably and seemed to be glancing down the corridor every couple of minutes ,longing for Howard to come back. When he saw him, he straightened and looked at him, surprised to see he was totally relaxed and ready to face Mr Noir again.

As soon as he walked into the room, Vince's dad jumped up, out of his seat,

"Let's continue our discussion shall we? You do like my son don't you?" Howard looked at him disdainfully,

"Mr Noir, I like your son. He's my best friend. However, I don't think you have the right to be calling him your son. Why did you come here in the first place? We both know that you don't love him. It's not a simple trip to say hello". Mr Noir stepped forward and was looking directly into Howard's eyes,

"Look here boy, I don't think you need to know our business do you? So why don't you toddle back to that ugly child and leave us to wait for ours?". Again, anger surged through Howard, and even Naboo was horrified at what Mr Noir had just said,

"_That ugly child_?! Mr Noir, that 'ugly child' is..." Naboo was shaking his head, mouthing 'No!' and waving his arms over Mr Noir's shoulder, "You know what?" Howard said, suddenly very calm, "I'm not going to lie to you. That baby is your son. Yeah, he swallowed some water from the fountain of youth by mistake. He heard _every _word you said. So if I were you, I would just go back to wherever you live, and stay there. _Childless._"

Mr and Mrs Noir were both looking at Howard, horrified. Naboo had slapped a hand to his head but was still watching the conversation, almost eagerly.

"Do you want me to prove it to you?" Howard asked, before cursing, "Actually, I can't. Because that would mean walking him up, and then I would be breaking my promise to him. You know what that promise was? I promised him that when he woke up, you would be gone". Both parents were still speechless, and Howard said,

"Now, last time, why are you really here?" Mr Noir sat in sullen silence, while Mrs Noir suddenly snapped,

"Ok! You want to know?!" She screamed, almost hysterical, "We wanted revenge! He never kept in touch, so it's taken us ages to find him, but now we have! We wanted revenge for Michael's death! It was all that boy's fault!" She pointed down the hall, angry tears in her eyes, and jumped up, "I'll take that revenge now!" She went down the hall, and all three housemates ran to her before she reached Vince. Howard got there first and grabbed her by the shoulders. Speaking calmly, he said,

"I'm going to get Bollo to take you out of our house. If you come anywhere near here again, I'm going to get him to rip your head off". He was so angry he didn't hear what he was saying, but still held the woman who looked fearfully at the gorilla who loomed over her. In one swift movement, he grabbed her _and_ her husband and dragged them downstairs and out the shop. Howard was pleased to hear a satidfying crash as Bollo threw them out, and even more pleased to hear them scurrying away.

He looked around to see Naboo staring at him,

"Jesus Howard, I've never seen you loose control like that". Howard blew upwards onto his brow and replied,

"Yeah well, it wasn't that hard. Did you not hear what they were saying about Vince?" Naboo agreed that the woman was a very big ballbag when Bollo came up,

"They met Bob Fossil in street. I don't think they want to come back". Howard alughed but stopped when the bedroom door opened and a shocked little face appeared at the door,

"What did they say?"

**Lol, I don't know whether I can count that as a dangler or not, but they seem to get better reviews ;) Hint hint. ^_^ I like reviews. I reply personally to each one y'know... Hope ya enjoyed the chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hiya, sorry if this is a bit late, I've been a bit pre-occupied with another story. It's just planned right now, maybe you can all help with it? What does everyone think about a Life on Mars crossover? If you've never seen it, it doesn't really matter, basically, Vince goes back in time after an accident, then tries with all his might to get back to Howard :) Anyway, there's a poll on my profile ;)  
Disclaimer: Nothing at all is mine, except any spelling mistakes.**

Vince stared up at everyone in shock. He had just overheard his parents say that they thought he was responsible for his brother's death, and that they hadn't come to say hello at all. They had wanted revenge.

"D'you...d'you think that they meant that?" He asked, eyes glistening and his voice cracking several times. At once, Howard bent down to comfort him,

"No little man, of course not. They were angry and upset, and probably still grieving. I mean, you were locked in your bedroom! How would him falling down the stairs have been your fault?" Vince sniffed and shrugged,

"I must have done something wrong!" Howard and Naboo looked at each other, completely lost,

"What makes you think that? Why do you think they're right?" Vince looked to be struggling, but felt the answer was an easy one,

"They're my _parents_ Howard. Parents are always right!" Howard looked at him, aghast. He picked him up and walked to the sofa. Sitting down, he had Vince on his knee and said,

"Vince, I don't want to say this, but parents are people who care about you, and come and see you if you're in a play or... or a team game. Parents love you no matter what, and if someone says to you that they don't love you because of how you dress or what your interests are, they aren't your parents. Did either of them ever stay with you when you were ill, or even hug you?" Vince burst into tears and stuck his head into Howard's shirt, "I didn't mean to upset you Vince, but you have to understand that just because they made you doesn't mean they're your parents. To be classed as a parent you have to at least be loved by your children, and I think they failed miserably there". This just made Vince cry harder, but the toddler managed to speak for a couple of seconds,

"But I do love them! I mean, they're my parents! I can't not love them! I just..." He seemed at a loss so Howard just hugged and rocked, not sure what else he could do. To his surprise, Naboo burst out,

"How can you think that Vince?! How can you love people who did that to you? You must have been three when they treat you like that! Yet now you've got the body of a three year old, you haven't been beaten or anything have you? I mean, Howard hasn't even said anything mean to you, let alone hit you!" Howard blushed, and the flat went quiet as the housemates thought,

_Why did I just say that? So Howard's been nice to him, why would that affect whether he loves his parents or not? God that was stupid. Wait, how are they looking at each other? Fatherly love coming from Howard perhaps? Urgh, I can't stick that. Bollo come on we're going. Oh right, that should have been out loud...._

_Naboo's right, Vince is being way too loyal to his 'parents'. And he was right when he said that I hadn't done anything bad to him. I don't see how anyone could lay a finger on him. Look at him, he's adorable. Wow. I don't even care if I admit that now. This is going to change things, I can tell. In a good way or bad? What if after this he just looks at me like a father? It's bad enough when people think I am, what if he starts acting like it? Oh god, people would be expecting me to adopt him or something. Mind you, look at him, he's smiling now, maybe I should say something, break the silence, I can't help smiling back at him, what's wrong with me?_

_Maybe Naboo's right. I just can't help it, everyone loves their parents. I mean, they still fed me, clothed me. Well, not in the nice things. After being with them for about seven years they never once gave me food and clothes that I actually liked. And I've been like this with Howard for like, 4 days, and I got to choose what to eat and he bought all those clothes. I mean fair enough, he does let me choose the food normally, but you'd think that if someone has the body of a three year old, then whoevers with them'd take advantage of it. Like my parents. No. Stop. They're not your parents. They're Mr and Mrs Noir, who had one son, who fell down the stairs accidently. I don't have any parents. My family's here. With Naboo and Bollo and Howard. Howard. He's looking down at me, I think I should probably smile back at him. Aww, he thinks no-one can see him smiling at me._

"Er, me and Bollo are going out, y'know, Bollo's got a DJ gig, so we're gonna..." He didn't bother finishing and just dragged Bollo out of the flat, ignoring the fact that it was nearing eleven at night.

When the door shut Vince rubbed his nose on his pyjama sleeve. Howard tutted,

"I'm going to have to wash that now" Vince smiled weakly,

"Not much point if I'm not gonna need to use it after tomorrow". Howard nodded. How could he have forgotten that Vince changed tomorrow. Not that he was unhappy about that. Certainly not disappointed at it. Vince needed his life back, he must be getting sick of being carried everywhere, and crying so easily. Vince appeared to be thinking along the same lines,

"We should have a party!" He exlaimed, teasing Howard slightly, "To celebrate! I can invite the whole female population of _London _if you want!" Howard shook his head firmly,

"No way little man, we are never having another party here again," The microwave timer went off, making Vince jump, "Ah, that's my alarm for jazzercise!"

"You're leaving?" Vince squeaked (He liked to think it was because he had something stuck in his throat, but he just sounded scared), "What about me? I don't wanna go and watch you lap dance with a saxophone!" Howard rolled his eyes,

"It's not lap dancing with a saxophone, it's aerobics for the jazztically aware". Ignoring Vince's look that suggested he was slowly losing his sanity, he put his friend on the sofa and got up,

"I got Lestor to come over, since you can't y'know, reach any of the cupboards or anything if you're hungry",

"Come on Howard I don't need a babysitter! Can't I just go to bed? He doesn't need to be round at all"

"No, he hasn't had a night out in ages. I don't mind if you go to bed now, but he's all excited at coming over! You just have to remember he doesn't know it's you. I told him it was Naboo's nephew". Vince nodded,

"Fine. Night". With that he jumped off the sofa and toddled off toward the bedroom. Howard sighed, getting the feeling that Vince was annoyed with him. Still, he had no time to dwell on it as the buzzer went,

"Hello?"

_Hey Howard, skiddly do wah-wah!"_

"Hey Lestor, come on up" He pressed the button, and sure enough soon Leroy was coming up the stairs. Picking up his bag, Howard said,

"Hi Lestory, I'm a bit late so I need to go now. Naboo's nephew's gone to bed, so you don't need to do anything" He smiled apologetically, forgetting that that would do nothing.

"Oh that's alright Howard, I've never touched a baby anyway. What's his name? Just in case I need to contact the fire department". Howard, who had heard odd things like this come out of Lestor before didn't pay any attention, but thought wildly, using the first boy's name that came into his head,

"Err, his name's.... Noel" Lestor nodded and asked where they kept the pickled onions. Within seconds Howard was out the door, mentally saying sorry to Vince in his head.

----------

Vince woke up at about half eleven, half an hour after Howard left. He tossed and turned in his cold bed, but found it impossible to get back to sleep. Sighing he got up and thought maybe a drink would help,

Unfortunately, Lestor had very good hearing (Because when one sense diminsishes etc etc)

"Is that you Noel?" Vince was confused for about a minute before realising that Howard had come up with a name for him. He shurgged. It wasn't _that_ bad a name, he supposed.

"Er, yeah, I'm thirsty, mind if I get a drink?"

"No, you go right ahead," Vince pulled a chair towards the counter to grab a cup, as Lestor got up and made his way towards him, "Can't sleep huh? Well if you finish that and go back to bed, I can tell you a really good story, all about when the communists came to find us, back in the RAF, and we were surrounded, but fortunately, I had my trombone hidden in my back pocket, which in those days, we called a back sprocket, so we didn't get confused between the front and the back. When they were next to us, I jumped out and pulled one of them back into the alleyway we had landed our black hawk helicopters in. Now the problem with that is..."

"Er, it's ok Lestor, I'm really tired now, I'm gonna go to bed" With that he walked back down the corridor. Did all old people tell stories that went nowhere? Or was it just Lestor? Mind you, even Howard's pencil case story ended somewhere. And it made sense, even if it was boring and unfunny.

It was only when he was back in bed did he realise something. When he was a child, he had never been told stories. Never. He just couldn't remember a time that had happened. Which was why he was the one telling the stories. yet now, Howard, Naboo, even Lestor told him stories. Howard even deigned to read him a story, before they went to see the board of shaman. He flicked on his bedside light and went rootling around, trying to find it. After three minutes of searching he found it, and sat cross legged on his bed, looking through the pictures, stopping every time he saw a picture of the baby bear with one of it's parents.

----------

Howard got in to find Lestor passed out on the sofa, agter shaking his shoulder for a couple of minutes, he got the older man up,

"Hey Lestor, you should probably get a cab home. But you're welcome to sleep on the sofa?"

"Naw, that's alright Howard, I've got my rape whistle with me. Oh by the way," He added, half-way down the stairs, "Noel woke up and got a drink, he went back to bed after I told him a story about when charlie surrounded us in Vietnam. I had to change it, so he wouldn't have a panic attack, cause I didn't think he'd like the bit about the transexual horse hiding under one of our engines. Y'see, he was there because..."

"Ok Lestor, Goodnight" Howard said, pushing him toward the door. When he was gone, Howard crept down to his bedroom, to check on Vince. He opened the door slowly, and saw that the bedside lamp was on. Raising an eyebrow, he opened the door fully to see Vince had fallen asleep sat on Howard's bed, cross legged. He had presumably been bent over something, and had been holding onto his stuffed toy, Mitch. Howard crept over and slowly pulled him up, to see he had been studying 'Peace at Last'. The page which he had fallen asleep on had a picture of the father bear sat next to the baby bear.

**Sorry it's not as long as some of the others ;) I didn't know what to do for this chapter, which is why there are more thoughts than anything :) Please review! Oh, I only JUST realised as I was writing this bit that in one of the other chapters I made reference to Lestor being a head. And now in this I've got him as normal :s I don't have an excuse for this, and am NOT gonna rewrite it all :D**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hiya ;) Thanks for all the lovely reviews and messages ^_^ This chapter popped into my head during tea, and I thought "Aww". So I had to write it :) I know the date's probably a bit off, but go with it. Please? Oh, and there's still that poll on my profile ;) Drop by and give me your opinion :P Oh yeah, the way it looks, this idea'll probably stretch out over 2 chapters, as I want Vince's last day as a toddler to be a good one ^_^ Also, I describe a butterfly later, no idea whether it would exist in England ;) But go with it :P  
Disclaimer: Not mine!**

"Hey Howard"

Howard woke to a toddler shaking his shoulder, trying to make him get up faster. He was biting his lip and his blue eyes shining. Immediately Howard sat up,

"Yeah? Is something wrong?" Vince smiled fondly at the protective tone in Howard's voice.

"Nah, don't worry. Listen, y'know it's halloween today?" Howard's eyes widened and he looked at the calendar in shock. He had no idea it was already nearly November. He looked back to see Vince, losing patience,

"Yeah it is. Anyway, y'know I change back today?" This Howard did know. Naboo said it would happen at midnight tonight. _Like flipping Cinderella _He thought, "I wanna go trick-or-treating"

"What? Why? You've never done before". Vince wriggled his toes, looking slightly shifty, "You have done before haven't you? All those times you said you were going to see Leroy every Halloween"

"I didn't want any of you to know. I got my costume ready and left, then changed in the Topshop changing rooms. The staff are dead nice about it". Howard smiled, amused at the thought of Vince going trick-or-treating.

"Anyway," He continued, "I think we should do it. 'Cause I _never_ did when I was small, and that's all what childhood's about really. I mean, you've never had a childhood until you've done it. And I've got a childhood until..." He trailed off, not knowing when he was going to change.

"Midnight tonight Vince, Naboo told me". He nodded and said,

"Yeah, I've got a childhood 'till midnight, so why don't we do it? It'll be genius! You can get dressed up, and I can get dressed up..." He saw the look on Howard's face and stopped, "What?"

"Vince, we'd have to buy you a costume, and I am _not_ dressing up. I'll go with you if you really want to go, but I am not dressing up". Vince bounced on his feet and Howard smiled and lifted him onto the bed. A thought occured to him however, and he looked down at Vince seriously,

"Vince, when you said you never went as a child, is that because you weren't allowed, or because you never wanted to?" He asked this, his tone light, but Vince knew what he was implying, and decided to answer the un-asked question,

"I did once, one of my friends at school said they were going, so I said I would as well. I asked Michael to come as well, and he said ok, I think he liked me, even though Dad always used to tell him he was better than me. I bought a costume, I was gonna go as a witch, cause this girl I liked was and I told her I'd match," He grinned, but Howard could tell the toddler wanted to cry, relieving these memories, "So I was there, with this bad ass witches outfit on, lantern in the shape of a pumpkin in one hand and a broom in the other, when my Dad comes down and says he doesn't want us going because there'd be talk that I was just a little girl, a stupid, b...babyish girl who still goes trick-or-treating. He said that what would be worse is that they'd think I was begging, so he just told Michael that his tea was ready and... punished me" Howard was so shocked he couldn't speak. All he could do was hug Vince and rock him. When he finally found his voice, all he could say was,

"You're Dad's an idiot Vince. Loads of kids over 15 still trick-or-treat, and you were what, 5?" Vince shook his head, still loyal to his dad,

"It's my fault really, I was just too... too stupid to realise that it was a babyish thing to do". Howard sat on the bed and put Vince on his knee so that he was facing him.

"Vince, don't you ever say that, ever again, understand me? You are not stupid, he is. And you're trick-or-treating now, is anyone calling you stupid now?" Vince shook his head and snuggled into Howard, who was surprised that the smaller man wasn't crying,

"Cheers Howard, you do mean it about the trick-or-treating though?" Howard was startled, but realised what Vince was talking about. He laughed softly, quite glad at how quickly Vince could just shove something to the back of his mind in exchange for something much more pleasant.

"Of course I do, we'll go as soon as it gets dark"

"This'll be so good! What am I gonna dress as? Adam Ant? No wait, I did that a couple of years ago... Erm, David Bowie? Nah, not enough time...."

"Vince, you realise the only costumes for three year olds are going to be ghosts, devils and vampires?" Vince's smile fell, but immediately, a different one jumped up,

"Cool, I haven't been a vampire yet!" Howard shook his head, but put Vince back on the floor so he could get up,

"Well, I'm hungry, so what do you want?" Vince was still bouncing happily and replied,

"I dunno, whatever you're having". Howard merely shrugged and stood up, making sure Vince didn't fall over in his excitement.

"Easy little man, and get dressed, if we're going to be buying a costume we need to get it soon, I bet most of them will be gone". Vince nodded and threw some piles of clothes aside as he looked for the pair of dungarees he had.

Howard walked into the kitchen, and found Naboo hanging cobwebs and fake spiders in the corners. He rolled his eyes but said good morning to him and proceeded to look for some bowls to have porridge in. When it was almost done, Vince came in,

"Hey Naboo!" Naboo turned around and gave him a stoned grin,

"Alright Vince, what are you so excited about?" Vince beamed,

"Howard's taking me trick-or-treating! It's gonna be genius, I'm gonna be dressed up and everything!" Naboo simply nodded, not exactly annoyed that Howard was taking him out, but confused as to why he was doing now. Every year he seemed to recall Vince going out, trying to hide a costume in a Topshop bag as he mumbled some excuse about going to Leroy's. Why would Howard choose to go now? Obviously Vince was cuter, so that would have an impact, but he was sure Vince had said something to seal the deal.

"Hey Howard, why are you taking him now? You wouldn't before, has he said something to you to make you feel sorry for him or something?" Naboo whispered to Howard, not at all casual, and was quite pleased to see him blush and wriggle uncomfortably,

"I've only never taken him before because he's never asked! How could I have? Plus, you try saying no when he tells you he tried to go once, with his brother, but his dad told him he wouldn't have his son dressing like a babyish girl and go begging. Then punishes him while he tells his brother that his tea's ready". Naboo was gobsmacked. It shouldn't affect him so much after knowing what he did about Vince's past, and especially after meeting his parents. Still, he tried to pull himself together.

"So you're going trick-or-treating? What'll you be wearing?" Howard laughed,

"Howard Moon doesn't dress up in fancy costumes no sir, and we're going to get Vince a cheap costume from some shop after breakfast" Naboo nodded and went off to tie up some glittery bats to the top of the door frame.

"Howard!" Vince cannoned into him, thwaking into his legs and putting his arms around them. Looking up, he smiled at his friend, blue eyes twinkling and said,

"Is breakfast ready yet? What are we having? Porridge?! Genius! When are gonna get my costume? Soon? I'm bored, let's go! Wait, I'm hungry, when's it ready?" Howard groaned and closed his eyes. Vince's special talent for getting hyper off nothing but excitement was beginning to show, and Howard really couldn't be doing with this first thing in the morning. Plus, going shopping afterwards would be a nightmare. So, he just pretended not to have heard Vince's little outburst and went to find Naboo.

"Naboo? Vince is really hyper, and I am not taking him shopping like that. Have you got any potions or something to calm him down?" Naboo thought for a second and replied,

"Yeah, I think Bollo's got some scented candles" Howard quirked an eyebrow,

"How would _that _help?"

"I think he's got a lavender one, it calms people down. I took an aromatherapy class in my gap year" He explained, as Howard nodded, not really listening. Taking it back to the living room, where Vince was throwing porridge down his throat, yelping at how hot it was, Howard lit the candle and sat down opposite his friend, taking his time with his breakfast. Soon, the flat was filled with a warm lavender scent that penetrated their nostrils and filled their heads, making them relax and unwind.

Howard was pleased to see Vince saying less and less, until finally he just sat there, spoon still in his mouth, smiling dazily up at Howard. Deciding now was perfect, he sat up,

"Hey Vince, are you ready to go?" Vince nodded and yawned. Howard thought quickly as he got Vince to his feet. He was sure there was a costume shop a few minutes walk from here. After double checking with Naboo, he got the buggy out and placed Vince in it when they were down in the shop.

"You ok little man?" Vince shuffled slightly,

"M'cold" Howard nodded and pulled a throw over the toddler, making sure every bit of him was covered. With that he shouted bye to Naboo and Bollo and walked out, careful not to catch the buggy on anything.

--

Unfortunately, the cold air was sharpening Vince's senses again, ebbing away the tiredness and peacefulness he had felt in the flat.

"Where're we going?" He asked, childish tone making Howard smile.

"The costume shop not far from the flat, it should have a few costumes left".

"Oh" Was all that Vince replied, and sat in a comfortable silence, until they were about halfway there, when he suddenly started giggling happily, childish giggles that seemed to make the day brighter and the sky bluer. Smiling, Howard looked down, to find that a butterfly had flown into the buggy, and had perched, quite unafraid, on Vince's hand. He was mesmerised by it, although what child wouldn't be? It was a bright blue, with shining white spots on each wing, that glistened in the light. Howard then realised they had been still for a good five minutes. Whispering, he said,

"Vince, we need to go if you want your costume, let the butterfly go". Nodding sadly, he shook his hand and watched as it flew away, startled by the sudden movement. He sighed and said,

"Howard?"

"Mmm?" He replied, looking down.

"Is it weird that I've got a strong craving for milk?" Howard laughed,

"Yeah, a bit. I can get you some if you want though". Vince thought about this offer and grinned,

"Cheers Howard! Can it have a crazy straw in it?"

"I don't think we have any of them". They continued this discussion until they got to the shop, where Howard glanced down at his friend and said,

"You know the drill" Vince sighed and nodded, getting into the mind of 'extremely cute three year old, who speaks in short sentences'. They entered to find just one guy behind the desk, who was snorting what Howard was terrified was cocaine, and that he had brought Vince into view of a junkie who would no doubt try and eat him or something. However, just as he was backing out of the shop, Vince remarked that it was in fact sherbert. Breathing out, but still weary, Howrd moved a little closer into the shop.

"Hey man, don't deny yourself an opportunity to look at all our...stuff" The guy behind the desk said in a hippy like British accent from the 1960's. It was appalling by the way.

"Erm hi, I'd like a halloween costume for him" He said, motioning towards Vince, who was looking around the shop, that had crystals hung in various places, and was dying to run his fingers through a huge tray of marbles.

"No problem dude, we've got some gnarly costumes for the under 30's" With that, he pointed to a small rail that had tiny costumes hung over it. Howard sighed but inched over to it. Thankfully, it looked much better close up, and had some good quality costumes that would fit Vince fine.

"Which one do you want?" He whispered, trying to make sure the guy behind the desk didn't hear, as he was pressing his ear to an old ear horn that old people used. Vince was looking through the costumes, and one immediately leapt out at him,

"Get that bright red one there" He hissed, and Howard picked it out, disentangling it from a coconut bikini. It was a small devil's outfit, with tiny red horns that (When Vince tried it on) actually looked like he had some horns poking through his head. Howard smiled and gave it over to the guy behind the desk, He looked at it blankly for a minute and then shouted,

"Oh yeah! My boss said I have to sell things If I wanna get paid". He gave them a cheeky smile and didn't even look at the costume before saying,

"That'll be £7.99 dude," Howard paid and the guy looked down at Vince, "Is this for little dude?" Howard nodded and quickly retreated, ignoring the guy's blabbering about god knows what.

Outside the shop Howard looked down at Vince, glad to see he had the same expression on his face.

"That was well weird" Was all he said, and settled back, waiting for Howard to start back to the flat. Howard shrugged and did so, and they were walking in a contented silence, until suddenly, Vince shrieked and started crying-no, _howling_. Howard stopped the buggy and ran round the side to find him holding out his finger in a terrified way, screaming for help.

"Vince?! Vince, what's wrong, where does it hurt?" Vince flailed his arms out, wanting a hug, which Howard hastily gave him, only too willing to comply. He unstrapped the toddler and walked him around, bouncing him up and down, until he was just sniffling,

"Now little man, what's wrong?"

"A...bee, flew in and, it...it s-stung me on my finger" Howard nodded understandingly, and said soothingly,

"We'll go back to the flat, and see if Naboo has anything he can put on that finger" As though he was speaking to a small son, which sometimes he felt like he was, and that he had to. A thought which surprisingly didn't concern him whatsoever. He decided to keep a hold of Vince, and push the buggy back one handed, bouncing every time the toddler snuffled, bouncing him that tiny bit closer, just so that he would feel safer, and more secure.

**Okay, this has got to be one of my least favourite chapters. Hopefully it'll get cuter further in. Please review, and don't forget that poll! Even if you're not gonna read it, it helps. And bear in mind I had a splitting headache all through writing this chapter, so be kind :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**AGAIN, cheers for reviews ;) OMG, this story has 20 chapters! And about 60,000 words! Woah! Crack open the orange juice and custard creams, we have ourselves a party! Don't forget that poll on my profile!  
Tiny word in here- Don't think the rating needs upping, but if it does, you know where to find me!  
One more thing to add to this amazingly long authors note, this chapter's dedicated to EdibleElectricity, who rung me halfway through it, and who I feel for, as she won't get to read this till god knows when, cause her internet's off ;)  
Disclaimer: Not mine, Not mine, Not mine!!**

"Naboo?!" Howard yelled up the stairs, wrestling with a buggy in one hand and a toddler who, when he yelled that, got jolted and started wailing again, "Naboolio!" Howard bellowed up the stairs, abandoning the buggy and jogging Vince up and down, trying to stop his heartbroken sobs. Howard barely heard the already muffled groan of Naboo, who was presumably getting up off the sofa after his hookah.

"What is it?" He shouted, already half-way down the stairs.

"Is it not obvious?" Howard yelled back, now not even trying to calm Vince down. It was obvious he had never been stung by a bee before. Plus, if he screamed like this after what his parents had done, then Howard shuddered to think what lengths they would have tried to go to to stop him crying. Just to try and get rid of that awful picture in his head, he hugged Vince tightly, on the pretence of trying to calm him down.

"No actually, all I see is a slightly harrassed man with tiny eyes holding a crying toddler. How am I supposed to know what's wrong?" He lisped, in an emotionless voice. Howard rolled his eyes, but supposed the shaman had a point.

"He was stung by a bee" He explained, feeling quite foolish as he had made Naboo think it was something really serious. Naboo blinked and looked up at Vince.

"Oh. Have you ever been stung before?" Vince shook his head, nose running, making Howard sigh an odd, almost motherly sigh that mothers do when they realise their children have just eaten some soil or something. He flicked out his hankerchief (Which had his initials on) and ran it under his friend's nose, ignoring the weak sounds of protest he made. Naboo surveyed them for a couple of seconds more before saying,

"Fair do's, come upstairs and I think I've got something that'll take the pain away". Unbeknownst to both men, Vince wasn't crying out of pain. Well... he _was, _but it was only partly shock and pain that was making him scream in such a way. The rest was fear. When he was younger, he used to always like stroking animals, he still did now, but when he was younger, anything would do. Not just dogs or cats, any of the ordinary ones like that, but _anything. _So when his mum saw him trying to stroke a colourful little buzzing peanut, which he later found out was called a bee, she shouted at him and told him that it was dangerous. That if he was stung by it, she would chop his finger off as a reminder not to do it again. And then, she said, the rest of the arm would fall off, because that's what bee stings do.

So when Howard sat him up on the kitchen bench, he was _positive_ that Naboo was getting his knife ready when he was turned around. So he wailed more, clinging to Howard's hand. In a last attempt to get off the bench and away from what he was sure would be more pain to come, he tried to wriggle off it.

"Easy does it little man" Howard soothed, thinking he was falling off by accident. Vince _nearly_ pulled a face, but was too upset he couldn't even think straight. The fear was regressing him, making him think like a three year old, believing everything Mummy said, because of course she was right.

Naboo finally turned around with nothing more than a pot of cream in his hand, and he even managed to muster up a grin as Vince looked at him, confused. Howard sighed in relief as Vince stopped crying, but the boy was so overcome with emotion that he burst into fresh, noisy sobs, also out of relief. Naboo raised an eyebrow and looked over at Howard, who was just as clueless.

"Vince are you ok?" Howard asked gently, putting his hand on the toddler's arm, concern flowing from his brown eyes. Vince managed to gather up enough courage to glance up at Howard and sniff loudly, attempting to tell him _why_ he was so scared.

"It's just... I-When...my m..." He couldn't speak because he was drawing breath so much, and Howard rubbed circles on his back until he calmed down enough to talk without _that_ much stuttering.

"When I w-was small, my mum s-said that when a bee stung you, your arm w-would fall off..." He looked up at them, expecting to see them laughing, but to his surprise, they were as solemn as people at a funeral. Both Howard and Naboo were thinking. Hard. What kind of mother would deliberately scare her child, and with something so small as a bee sting? No wonder Vince was howling.

"Vince, look at me. That is absolute, complete utter bollocks," Howard said, "That would never happen, unless you were so allergic that as soon as you smelt one you upped and died. No offence, because you certainly got whatever decent genes your parents gave you, but your mother is just a cow". He was glad to see that Vince didn't really mind these words. It stung him (Unintended pun!) much less than he thought it would. However, now the fear was gone, he could still feel the pain, and once again started crying, only thankfully, it was on a much smaller scale than previously.

"Ok, Naboo's going to put this cream on your finger, it'll stop the pain, and he said it's special shaman cream, which should make the sting come out as well" He said, explaining it as though he really was talking to a three year old. At his words, Vince winced,

"There's still some part of the bee _in _me?!" He yelped, but fortunately, he sounded more disgusted that it was in _him_, rather than it was a part of the bee. Howard shushed him as Naboo stepped forward quickly to put the cream on, before Vince could shuffle away. After all that fuss it was over within half a minute, and Naboo just rolled his eyes and walked away, muttering something about ballbags, but Howard didn't know whether he was talking about them or Vince's parents.

Howard grinned at Vince and said,

"Right, Do you want to try your costume on?" Vince nodded eagerly, memory of the sting disappearing slowly as he remembered what day it was. When Howard pulled him down off the counter, he bounced away, looking forward to the sweets he would be getting, and the dressing up. As they were walking through the living room, Bollo turned and said,

"Would precious Vince like Bollo's special Halloween chocolate cake with ice cream and caramel sauce, or Bollo's special Halloween chocolate muffins with sprinkles and whipped cream?"

Vince grinned widely. This was gonna be good.

--

Howard had bribed Bollo with his guitar to not give Vince his special Halloween cakes until _after_ they went trick-or-treating. There would be no point taking a Vince so hyperactive that he would try and eat his own elbow out on the street. The fact that he was going to be dressed up would add to the excitement, and the plastic jack-o-lantern pot that he had persuaded Howard to buy to carry the sweets in wouldn't help either. Have you _seen_ the size of it?

On the plus side, his devil outfit fitted him well, albeit the sleeves, which were a tad too long for him, but bizarrely, he looked like an angel with the horns in. He looked so innocent and sweet with them in (Although he was probably putting that face on) that even Naboo awwed (Extremely quietly mind you) when he came in.

The outfit was quite basic, with just an ordinary red binbag/poncho type thing that you buy in theme aprks to avoid getting wet on the water rides. Underneath, he had his pingu top on, and the outfit had come with a pair of plain red trousers. A plastic tail trailed behind him, and a wonky pitchfork that looked as though it had snapped and had hastily been glue back together was being clutched in his hand. The devil horns were securely fastened on his head, and he was holding his sweet bag with the kind of excitement small children have on christmas, just before they're allowed to go into the living room and see their presents.

"Howard, are you ready?!" He shouted down the passageway, and sighed with relief when the older man emerged. Fair enough, he was dressed in a top that looked like it had been thrown up on, with courderoy trousers, but he was definately ready to go, a warm jacket on, and a determined expression on his face.

Ok. C'mon trouble, we're off". He said, and suddenly paled at the unintentional affectionate nickname, but thanked the heavens that Vince hadn't noticed. Unfortunately, Naboo had.

"Hey Howard, a word" Howard looked over at Vince, who had given out a huge sigh and was stood, hopping from foot to foot.

"I'll be one minute Vince," He promised, and walked swiftly over to Naboo, "This had better be quick". Naboo rolled his eyes,

"You do realise what you called him a second ago?"

"Yes Naboo I do. And before you ask, no I didn't use it intentionally, and no, the transition won't be harder this time round" He hissed, not at all sure whether he was telling the truth or not. Naboo hummed as if he had his point proven and shoved Howard in the direction of Vince.

"Come onnn" Vince moaned, pulling at Howard's jacket, looking like he could cry out of impatience,

"Ok Vince, just calm down..." He hushed, and shouted to the others, "Ok guys, we're off!" He got a grunt from Bollo but to his surprise Naboo said,

"Bye Howard, enjoy. And look after Vince" Howard nodded and turned, shepharding the toddler down the stairs, (Again him having to slide down on his backside) he muttered,

"Always do"

--

Howard couldn't help laughing out loud as Vince skipped down the road, jumping in leaves and marvelling at the wonderful crunching sound they made. A strong gust of wind pushed past them, making Vince's 'cape' flap wildly up in the air.

"Hey Howard! Lookit what I can do!!" Howard turned his attentions back to the actual person, and saw Vince jumping as far as he could, looking like he was being lifted into the air. Howard rolled his eyes, and, although he was amused, couldn't help worrying about what his friend was actually doing. Fair enough, he had explained why he wanted to go trick-or-treating, but the fact that he was behaving like a three year old? Howard was doubting the psychologist's claim that he would be fine. Which, Howard realised, nearly jumping in shock, would be in six hours (It was six o clock).

"Vince!" Vince heard his name being called and ran over to where the older man was stood. Looking up expectantly, he saw Howard trying to hide his shocked face,

"Where do you want to start?" Vince surveyed the area. Not a novice in London, he knew where all the richest houses in Camden were, and knew that he would probably get better swag from there.

"I reckon we'd get really expensive stuff from over there" He grinned, pointing at some rather large houses off in the near distance. Howard shrugged and went to walk off, but was stopped when Vince clutched at his hand. He froze and looked down, but breathed out when he realised that Vince had merely slipped on some wet leaves and had had to grab onto Howard to keep his balance.

"You alright?" Vince nodded and let go, placing his sweet pot in that hand instead. As they were walking, Howard tried to ignore the empty feeling he was experiencing in that hand.

--

"This is genius!" Vince trilled, strawberry bootlace hanging out of his mouth, pot half full (Although Howard would have argued it was half empty) and they had only been to about three houses. He scanned the area and pointed out a house a few doors down from the one they had just been to,

"That one now!" Howard raised an eyebrow but followed him down the lit driveways and found him waiting near the front of the house, looking rather nervous,

"What's wrong?" Howard asked, looking up at the house and seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Vince shook himself and said,

"Nothin'. I'm fine!" With that he scooted down the drive and tried to reach the bell. Standing on his tip-toes, he was about an inch away when Howard came up and rang it for him. Vince tutted, but put on his best cute face and waited.

Soon enough a large figure appeared in the window pane, and Vince shrunk back, nearer to Howard's body. The door opened and a man who looked to be in his fifties appeared. He had short grey hair, and Vince giggled at his trousers, which were so short you could see the man's ankles when he moved. He was wearing a smart suit and tie and was holding a huge bowl which looked to have held loads of sweets, but now held a galaxy bar and an empty gummy worms packet. Howard saw this and smiled at the man (It looked more like a grimace)

"Had many trick-or-treaters then?" The man answered,

"Nope, barely had any, little blighters took one sweet each, so me and the wife decided to get rid of most of them" Vince rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what he did with the sweets. At that moment, a woman passed behind him who could only be described as 'moley'. She was wearing a burgandy cardigan and was sloping as she walked, at a steady speed, which made her look like a slug.

"Hurry up Dave, Countdown" The man, 'Dave', nodded and bent down to Vince's eyeline,

"Would you like a sweet young man?" Vince nodded, rather cautious of him, and quickly stuck his hand in the bowl, before Dave could eat it. He got a violent pat on the head from him as he whipped his hand out and stuck the bar in his pot. Howard had been looking idily around and had caught sight of their back garden, which had toilet paper all over it,

"Yes, that'll be the kids from school. I work in a secondary school, Dave Wazowski" He offered his hand, but Howard pretended to be cooing at Vince so he wouldn't have to touch the guy. He withdrew his hand and said,

"Bye then, best get in before that bag of bones gets cold" He jabbed a finger in the direction of his wife, and Howard could swear that as the door closed, the woman groaned,

"I'm not dead yet Wazowski"

--

"God that was quite boring wannit?" Vince said, looking in his pot, "We get through five houses and the pot's full! I dunno what everyone made such a fuss about at school" Howard silently agreed with this comment but didn't say anything as they slowly made their way back to the flat.

"Howarrrdd..." Vince drew the word out for as long as he could, "My feet ache" He whined, and Howard picked him up without complaint, only cursing when it started to rain, which started coming down fast, then turning into a thunderstorm. With all the thunder and lightning around them, Howard kind of lost track of things, and simply focused on getting Vince into the warmth. He practically ran the last few roads, and burst into the shop.

He set Vince down on the floor and suddenly started howling with laughter as Vince looked up. The boy was completely _drenched_. His fringe had gotten wet so it had fallen over his face, and he looked like a drowned rat. His hair was getting all straggly where it was wettest, and the devil horns had slipped down his head, so they were around his neck, like a necklace.

"What? What's so funny?" He demanded as he tried to pull his hair away from his face. Howard managed to pull himself together enough to say,

"Have you got a mirror on you Vince?" To Howard's surprise, he shook his head and said,

"Why? What's wrong?" Howard smiled,

"Don't worry you just look a bit..._wet_" Vince shrugged and immediately clamored to be allowed to look into his pot. Howard rolled his eyes, but didn't see any harm in giving him it now. As soon as he had it, Vince was tearing into wrappers like a wild animal.

"Hey easy, can you at least wait until we're upstairs?" Vince groaned but nodded, a pained look on his face as he saw the uneaten sweets in the pot. Howard took him up the stairs and found Naboo pacing up and down, a worried look in his face.

"Hey Naboo, what's up?" Naboo jumped and looked up t osee Howard staring at him, worriedly,

"Thank God! I was going to call you, but remembered you don't even have a phone , and for some reason, Vince didn't have his with him". Howard frowned,

"Why did you need to call? What's wrong?" At this, Naboo looked over at Vince, who was chatting nineteen to the dozen, stuffing sweets in his mouth, sat on the sofa next to Bollo. Howard paled,

Naboo, is there something wrong with Vince?" Naboo pulled him over to the side and whispered quickly,

"I got a call from Tony. He said Dennis read something wrong from the bottle. Y'know when he said that if he had someone who loved him unconditionally, almost like a parent it would work?" Howard nodded, hating the way the conversation was going, "Well, it's kind of the other way around. He needs to love someone like a parent, and I don't think he can ever do that, given what his parent's did to him" Howard looked over at Vince thoughtfully. Surely, if he loved Vince, at this moment mind, kind of like a son, then maybe he loved Howard kind of like a dad? It wasn't that big a longshot surely?

"How can we test it?" Naboo shrugged.

"Guess we have to wait until midnight. If it doesn't work, Tony said not to sweat it, and go round there for some poppers, and we can all pitch in ideas" He lisped, clearly quoting the pink ball shaped shaman. Howard groaned a little too loudly and collapsed onto a nearby chair, head in hands.

"Howard?" Vince chirped up, sounding worried, "Are you ok?" Howard smiled, even in the serious situation. That childish tone still made him smile affectionately. He looked up, and, ignoring the warning glances, he said honestly,

"Yes Vince. There is". A worried look stole across Vince's face, and he looked rather confused as well. To Naboo's surprise, the toddler climbed onto Howard's lap and looked up at him with his thumb in his mouth.

"What's wrong?" He whispered.

Howard relayed what Naboo had said to him, but Vince still looked confused.

"What are you worried about?" Vince asked, "Don't panic, sometimes I look at Howard like he's my dad. Not like _my_ dad," He hastily said as Bollo and Naboo smirked at Howard, "But he does loads of stuff for me, and he can easily stop me feeling worried or anything. He's kinda like the dad I never had. For now. Don't worry though Howard, I'll just look at you like my best friend when I'm normal. Promise" He looke so earnest, praying that Howard would believe him that Howard had no choice but to smile and hug him gently.

"Thanks Vince. I think" He got a mock punch on the arm and started laughing. Suddenly, everyone was talking at once, Bollo about which special Halloween cake he wanted, Naboo calling Tony, then Bollo asking what kind of sweets he got. But all Howard heard was Vince saying quietly,

"I want to go to bed" Howard nodded, not really looking at him, and took him into the bedroom. When there however, he found himself in a bit of a pickle. If Vince slept now, he'd sleep through changing, and it was too cold to sleep with nothing on, and it would be stupid to put him in his normal pyjamas _and_ his new-ish ones.

"Wait there" He instructed and went to find Naboo. Thankfully, he was no longer on his phone and listened to Howard,

"...so he's going to change back, and rip his new pyjamas, but he'd be freezing in his normal ones, so I don't know..." Naboo stopped him by putting up his hand,

"Relax Howard, give me his pyjamas" Howard quirked an eyebrow, but merely went to get them. Ignoring Vince's questioning glance, he picked up the panda ones and gave them to Naboo. After a minute of what looked like talking to them, Naboo handed them back.

"There, tell him to put them on" Knowing better than to argue, Howard went _back_ to Vince and told him to put them on. Shrugging, he did so and smiled tiredly at Howard as he got into bed.

"See you in the morning?" That almost sounded like a question to Howard as he stood back,

"Course you will Vince. Night" With that he closed the door, not before flicking the nightlight switch on.

**I didn't like this chapter very much :S Many in jokes in there, EdibleElectricity you had better get your anal passage to your computer! Oh yeah, E.E, you take full the full blame for the line, 'I'm not dead yet Wazowski'. So y'know, that is entirely her genius ;) Anyways, I think it was too run through, and I'd really appreciate feedback for this chapter cause I'm seriously not sure about it ;)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Cheers for reviews ;) I do believe that this is the last chapter :( We've had a good one, and I want to thank every single person who read it, reviewed it, gave me ideas for it or even badmouthed it ;) At least I know that if you do badmouth it, you've read it :D  
And yes, I know there isn't a bank holiday at this point, but I couldn't think of a better reason. When you read it, you'll get it, I swear ;)  
Disclaimer: For the last time (In this story anyway) it doesn't belong to me.**

Howard had gone to bed that night early. He didn't want to wake Vince up, even though he was a _very_ heavy sleeper, but the boy had been out like a light. So Howard went at about eleven, an hour before Vince should change back. When he was in bed, he had rolled over to watch Vince sleeping for a while, knowing it would be the last time he would see the tiny boy, he smiled fondly, but resisted the urge to go across and push his fringe out of his eyes. When he lay back, still looking at his friend, he realised that Vince didn't have any photos of himself when he was a child. His parents probably had a full photo album dedicated to his older brother, but it was highly unlikely that they had even picked up a camera in Vince's presence. Sighing, Howard felt so sorry for his friend. He remembered one time, ages ago, when they had been in the shop, talking about nothing in particular, when Vince had brought up the embarrasing pictures they had taken in school, in their first year,

_"Urgh, I don't even think I had a fringe that time, and it was just after lunch, I think I dribbled milk all the way down my jumper" Howard had looked up, amused,_

_"Vince, we were about five, I think most of our class had milk down themselves. I think my Mum still has that picture, she was nearly crying as she hung it, said it made her really proud". Vince had glanced away for a second, biting his lip._

_"Vince? What happened to yours?" He didn't want to tell Howard that his mum didn't want to pay for it, even though she had bought every single one with Michael in it,_

_"Erm, yeah, my mum hung it up too. Said I looked cute" He replied, reliving one of his younger fantasies, when he dreamt of saving his brother from a housefire or something to make them proud. He hadn't bothered telling his parents he had class photos anymore after that. They never cared._

Howard only realised now that Vince had told him his mum had hung it up. He must have been lying, because the woman Howard had met a few days ago didn't look like the kind of woman to hang pictures of her son up. It almost made Howard want to cry, but if Vince could have lived his whole life with it all and not cried (Apart from the times when he was being beaten), then Howard would have to as well.

As the toddler gave out a small sigh and rolled over, his back to Howard, the older man rolled over also, and succumbed to sleep.

--

He awoke with a start the next day, sure he was forgetting something. What was so important? A snuffle from the bed opposite him reminded him, and he sat up quickly, eager to know whether the potion had worked or not. His heart leapt as he saw a normal sized man (Well, ish, he was still quite small and thin) curled up under the duvet. Howard grinned and went to wake him, but held back when he saw the other man was sucking his thumb. That couldn't be good, the psychologist said he should stop any behaviour like that after his change. Maybe it was just a little too early? Maybe he had to wake up for a bit before he was completely back to normal.

Deciding to do what he thought for was for the best, he gently shook his friend,

"Vince. Vince. Come on little man, time to wake up" He whispered, which was useless, as he wanted him to wake up. Sure enough though, the younger man moaned slightly, and stretched like a cat before opening his eyes,

"Howard?" He mumbled, still hazy from sleep, "What time is it?"

"Half eight" Howard replied, and jumped as his friend leapt up in bed as he presumably remembered what should have taken place last night. Looking into the full length mirror on his wardrobe, he started laughing in delight as stared at his figure. Grinning at Howard, he went to get out of bed before noticing the panda pyjamas he was wearing had grown with him. They were now normal sized ones, that looked like you could just stroll into Topshop and buy them.

"Genius!" He laughed, swinging his legs out of bed and looking at Howard expectantly,

"What?" Howard asked, at a loss. Vince furrowed his eyebrows, but then shook his head,

"Forget it, I keep thinking you have to lift me out of bed" He smiled at Howard and got up. However, he wasn't used to his legs being long (Well, they weren't long, just longer than they had been) and his feet hit the ground a long time before he expected them to. This made him get slightly disorientated and his legs crumpled beneath him, his arms reaching out for something to grab onto. Howard threw his arms out too, and caught Vince just before he fell onto the ground fully. He readied himself for the other man to suddenly burst into tears, but just got a dizzy grin,

"Cheers Howard," He grinned back, shakily, and was asked another question, "Howard? I'm hungry, d'you think we can have some breakfast?" Howard nodded and helped Vince to his feet, as he was rather unsteady at first,

"Yeah, I'm going to cook a full english for everyone" Vince looked surprised, but shrugged as Howard left the room, muttering to himself that Vince really needed feeding up.

Vince walked shakily towards his wardrobe and opened it to find rows of skinnies and jumpsuits greeting him. Not that he didn't like them, but he felt that for a few days he should wear easier clothes, until he was used to being this size again. After several minutes of looking, he found nothing like that, and merely shrugged as he kept the panda pyjamas on. He was about to go out the door, but shivered as he just registered how cold it was. Looking back in his wardrobe, he found no warm jumpers and frowned, before opening the last two bottom drawers, which consisted of Howard's clothes and pulled out one of his huge jumpers that Vince affectionately nick-named 'The bear', as it was huge and fluffy, warming anyone wearing it up beautifully. It was quite large, but he had worn baggier, and walked out to find what he was having for breakfast.

--

Howard, Naboo and Bollo were sat at the table talking quietly when Vince stumbled out. His legs weren't co-operating with him today, and he tripped over a rug, sprawling over the floor and nearly going head first into a door frame. Howard leapt up to help him, and smiled as he wasn't batted away, like he would have been before all of this madness.

"You ok?" He asked in a low voice, as Naboo and Bollo were watching interestedly,

"Yeah I'm fine, you jumper stopped me getting any carpet burns" He joked, but brought Howard's attentions to the big jumper he was wearing,

"Wh-why are you wearing that?" He stutterd,

"'Cause it's comfy and it keeps me warm over my pyjamas," He lifted the jumper slightly and saw that Vince was indeed still wearing his pyjamas, "I'm still wearing 'em 'cause I can't really walk that well, and I thought it would be easier than trying to walk in skinnies" He explained to Howard's baffled features.

"Erm, right, fine. Anyway, do you, er, do you want breakfast?" Vince nodded enthusiastically and Howard helped him to the table, as his legs were still incredibly shaky.

"Alright Vince?" Naboo asked, almost sounding concerned.

"Yeah, cheers Naboo! Oh yeah, and thanks for the pyjamas" He grinned at the shaman, who nodded and continued with his breakfast. At this, Howard put Vince's breakfast in front of him.

"Jesus Howard, when I said I was hungry I didn't mean I could eat a whole pig!" He exlaimed, at the amount of bacon, sausage and black pudding on his plate, which was loaded up, and nearly twice the size of Howard and Naboo's, and had about the same amount of Bollo's.

"You trying to fatten me up?" He joked as he picked up his knife and fork, not seeing the slight blush in Howard's cheek, as that was exactly what he was trying to do.

During the meal very little was said, and every so often someone glanced in Vince's direction, as he was being quite clumsy. At one point he dropped his cutlery, and as he dived under the table to retrieve it, Howard and Naboo shared a similar concerned look before Vince came back up, grinning. Also, he had dribbled orange juice down himself more than once, leading to Naboo having to tell him, as he was completely unaware of it. As he scrubbed it away with some kitchen roll, Naboo gave Howard a look which meant 'Talk to me when we're done'. Howard nodded to show he understood, but pretended to ignore Naboo's glare as he rolled his eyes playfully as one of Vince's sausages went flying, due to him not holding it more carefully with his fork, and decided to cut his sausage in half for him. Vince blushed and mumbled a small 'Thankyou'.

When everyone was finished, and Bollo was lumbered with washing up, Howard saw Naboo's glance and said,

"Vince, why don't you try your drawing?" Howard suggested, "See how it is now?" Vince's face lit up as he stumbled to where they kept the paper and pens. Sitting at the table, he immersed himself in it, leaving Howard free to go and talk to Naboo.

They went inside Howard and Vince's bedroom and shut the door,

"What Naboo?" Howard started the conversation, knowing it would somehow come back to him trreating Vince like a toddler still,

"What do you mean what? You did see how he was at the table right?"

"I couldn't really miss it Naboo!" Howard hissed, "He's just not used to it, it'll just take him a couple of hours and he'll be fine again!" Naboo shrugged,

"If you say so. By the way, has he done anything else... toddler like?"

"You mean apart from spilling drink, dropping food and being extremely unsteady on his feet?" Naboo glared at Howard's slight sarcastic tone, "Sorry, sorry. No. He was fine when he woke up. Well actually, when he was sleeping he was sucking his thumb" Naboo simply shrugged again,

"It'll be fine. I think he might keep a few small traits, due to the concentration of the potion we gave him, but it shouldn't be anything major". Howard's eyes widened,

"You're telling me this now?!" Naboo walked out of the room, saying over his shoulder,

"You never asked" He paused for a second and said, "Oh, and Howard?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop treating him so much like a toddler. He isn't anymore, remember?"

"And there it is!" Howard exlaimed, securing his bet that Naboo would somewhere bring him up on that. The shaman just gave him the look of pity that a sane person would give to a person in an asylum and walked out.

--

They came back into the living room to find Vince dozing on the sofa, Bollo shuffling his feet uncomfortably,

"What's wrong?" Naboo asked the gorilla, smiling slightly at Vince,

"Bollo not sure whether to wake precious Vince up or not. Bollo knows Harold would say he shouldn't, but he is idiot". Naboo chuckled as Howard came into the room, but told Bollo to wake Vince up,

"He's cluttering the room" Was the excuse he used. Bollo bent over Vince and shook his shoulder extremely roughly, almost shouting in his ear.

"Ok Bollo, I'm up! God, you gave me a headache". He moaned, rubbing his head, looking up at them, especially Howard. His eyes weren't watery, but Howard could see the hurt in them, and immediately said,

"Leave him alone Bollo. Vince, go and get some painkillers" He didn't want Naboo smirking or telling him off for getting them himself. Vince nodded and swung his legs off the sofa. He was slightly more coordinated now, and managed to only stumble a bit on his way over to the cabinet. Getting there, he picked a sachet of nurofen up and swallowed it in one, shuddering at the taste, pulling a disgusted face, much to the others amusement.

"Alright guys, go open the shop now" Naboo said to them. Raising their eyebrows at each other, they both shrugged and went to the shop, Howard going down first. When he was at the bottom he turned to see where Vince was, and to his surprise the other man was going down on his backside like before.

"Er, Vince? You do realise you can get down normally now, right?" Vince jumped, as if he hadn't registered Howard's presence. He blushed and got to his feet, taking slightly longer than he normally would, but his feet still weren't agreeing with him as much as he would have liked.

"You ok?" He asked, as Vince finally go to the bottom.

"Yeah. 'Course. We gonna open then?" He asked, then gave Howard a smile, hoping he hadn't sounded cold and distant when he said that. He got a smile back and Howard moved forward to turn the sign around.

Vince settled himself on one of the stools behind the counter, and picked up a magazine under it. He yelped,

"Howard!" Howard spun around to find Vince looking at him, his face full of fear and shock,

"I still can't read!"

"What?!"

"I mean, I _can_, but there are some long words that I just can't make out". He looked like he was about to cry, a face that Howard had seen a lot of the last few days, which put the older man on high alert.

"Don't worry little man, I'm sure it just needs to wear off. Here, I'll help you," He stopped an blushed, stuttering out, "Y'know, if... if you want, I mean". But Vince gave him a glowing grin,

"Really? Cheers Howard!" So Howard went over, and Naboo found them hunched over the counter half an hour, Howard sometimes prompting his friend,

"Ray...Razor....Razorlight! Razorlight play gig on roof of Amy Wine...Winehouse's fa....fay...fav..."

"Favourite" Howard said quietly,

"Yeah! Favourite pub!" Vince looked up from the headline of one of the articles in his NME and grinned at Howard, "Thanks Howard!"

"No problem, and don't worry, I bet by tonight you'll be reading again" Vince grinned again and started on the next headline,

"The Kil...Killers sup..supp..su..."

"Support" Naboo lisped from his position on the stairs, and both men behind the counter jumped and looked up,

"Cheers Naboo! Yeah, The Killers support... Glas....Glas..." He looked up at Howard, who smiled,

"Glasvegas"

After watching Vince nod and finish the whole article, throwing his arms around Howard afterwards and hugging him warmly, Naboo crept back upstairs.

--

An hour later, Vince and Howard came back upstairs,

"What're you two doing?" Naboo asked, "You're supposed to be running a shop!"

"No point," Vince said lightly, going to get a drink, "Bank holiday" He grinned at Naboo.

"Yeah, we only realised when Vince read that the next issue wouldn't be out until tommorrow because today was a bank holiday" Howard explained.

"Oh. Fine" Naboo shrugged and just got back to the hookah he and Bollo were sharing. Howard shrugged and turned back to Vince, who was trying not to spill the water he was pouring into his cup all over the floor. While Howard was helping him, Naboo turned around and said,

"We're gonna put 'Colubus the crab' on. Interested?" Both boys nodded and went over to the sofa. Unfortunately, it had been ages since they had all sat on the sofa (Normal sized) and had forgotton that they had made a rule that one person always had to sit on the floor. They all looked at Howard first, who shook his head,

"No way, I did it last time". All heads turned to Vince, who also shook _his_ head,

"I've just had my body twist into the shape of a man again, I ache".

"Well it's my flat, and Bollo and me need to share the hookah". Vince shrugged and said,

"I don't mind sittin' on someone's knee. S'not like I haven't done it before" Everyone looked at Howard, who was outnumbered,

"Fine. Climb up" Vince smiled and sat on Howard, trying to make sure he didn't obscure his friend's view of the telly. However, he shuffled so much he almost shuffled right off Howard, who had to grab Vince by the waist to keep him on,

"Watch out little man" He pulled Vince closer to him, who smiled broadly at him and continued watching the telly. Howard only realised he hadn't been able to see the TV until the episode finished and Naboo stood up,

"Get the tea ready Bollo". Bollo grunted and stood up as well, leaving Howard stuck on the sofa until Vince moved,

"Vince, I need to get up," He said, but didn't get a reply. Frowning he said, "Naboo, is Vince asleep?" The shaman came over and smiled,

"Yeah, he's got his thumb stuck in his mouth as well" Howard couldn't help smiling as he pictured the scene, but he needed to get up. He slowly moved Vince from on top of him and layed him down on the empty space on the sofa. He did indeed have his thumb in his mouth, and was breathing deeply and evenly, smiling all the while. Howard got his duvet and put it over him, as it was still quite cold in the flat.

"He'd only have gotten more tired during the evening" He explained to Naboo, who was narrowing his eyes at Howard.

--

They had left Vince sleeping until the tea was ready, when Howard went forward to wake him,

"C'mon Vince, tea". Vince awoke and smiled at Howard,

"Genius," He yawned, "What're we having?"

"Bollo cook his famous cockney mash for precious Vince, with bangers" Vince grinned, his favourite meal on the table for him.

When they were sat at the table, Vince spoke,

"Hey guys, I know sometimes I don't like... make out that I'm grateful all the time, but I swear I've changed. Me 'n Howard talked a couple of days ago and it's kind of been sorted out. Anyway, I wanna say thanks to you all, for looking after me". Bollo got slightly watery eyes, much to their surprise, but Naboo grinned,

"No problem. But you know it was mostly Howard" Vince nodded and gave Howard a glowing grin.

"I know".

--

Vince yawned widely. He was curled up like a cat on the end of the sofa, as Bollo was washing up and so hadn't got to sitting down yet. Howard picked up on the yawn and said,

"I think you should go to bed Vince. You've had a long day after all". Vince shrugged sleepily and got up, stumbling, which was partly due to tiredness and that he was still getting used tp his feet again. He muttered a sleepy 'Night' to Naboo and Bollo and walked off. Howard got up to and, ignoring Naboo's questioning glance, followed Vince to their bedroom.

"Vince?" Howard said, slipping into the room,

"Mhmm?" Vince mumbled, already in bed,

"I just want to say, thanks for y'know, saying thanks" He said, feeling stupid, as he was aware that that hadn't made too much sense. Vince seemed to understand however, and nodded,

"'Welcome" He muttered, rolling over, the light from the overhead light hurting his eyes. Noticing this, Howard switched it off, but once again turned the nightlight on. Vince saw this, but smiled, grabbing Mitch and hugging him gently as he drifted off to sleep. Just before this, however, he said,

"Hey Howard? I've been thinkin' 'bout my dad alot. And I just wanna say, when I was small, I think you were the best dad ever. Kinda like the one I never had..." With that he sighed happily and fell asleep.

"Thanks Vince. It was good while it lasted. See you in the morning" With that he left the door slightly open as he hurried off to the bathroom, making sure his eyes weren't red from the happy tears sliding down his face.

**The end. And the all lived happily ever after. Then they woke up and it was all a dream lol. You pick. K, this is where the reviews are most important, cause I was struggling with how to end it. The chapter was niggling the back of my brain and I just _had_ to finish it. So after this I'm starting my crossover ;P So yeah, please review, even if you hadn't any other point, please do for this last chapter, let's try and get this story to more than 100 reviews! Oh yeah, sorry if it disappointed anyone, feel free to think up your own ending ;) I love you all  
XxxxX**


End file.
